LTF 70: Our Not-Yet-Happening Enlightenment; the 7th through 9th Links

Before we go further, actually, it might be nice to connect this with the discussion that we were having this last weekend about past and future. What is it that we are actually aiming for with bodhichitta when we are aiming for our future enlightenment? What do we actually mean by our future enlightenment? We saw that when we speak about something in the future, we are not, in Buddhism, talking about “the” future as if it were some ultimate dimension or some place happening out there now, but rather, we are talking about the not-yet-happening of certain things. 

So, we have the not-yet-happening of our individual enlightenments – they are not happening now. So, we can talk about the not-yet-happening of that enlightenment, or we can also talk about the enlightenment itself that can and will happen but that is not yet happening. The not-yet-happening of that enlightenment is a negation phenomenon; it’s not yet happening. And we saw that the not-yet-happening of it is equivalent to a certain facet of the causes for it. Here, the causes for it are our Buddha-nature factors. 

When we speak about Buddha–nature, we are speaking about the factors (not just one thing but various factors) that enable us to achieve the various bodies of a Buddha – the Form Bodies and Mind Bodies of a Buddha. And this, if we speak in a very general sense, refers to what are usually called the two “collections.” I call them the two “networks of positive force and deep awareness.” 

Positive Force

Positive force (usually translated as “merit”) has to do with the various karmic potentials. Positive force is a karmic potential built up with unawareness of voidness. (we start to build this up before we have understanding of voidness). It refers to the positive potentials that we build up by acting constructively, specifically by refraining from destructive behavior, realizing that that will bring suffering and be a hindrance to being able to help others. It’s on that basis that we restrain ourselves when we would want to act destructively, like yell at somebody or kill an insect or whatever. We could also act constructively by actually engaging in helping others and doing things like that – meditating on compassion, etc. That builds up positive force. 

Over the weekend, we spoke just of the tendencies, karmic tendencies. That was simplifying it. There is also karmic force – positive or negative – as well as constant karmic habits. 

When we build up some positive force, but we don’t make any dedication, that positive force just acts as a cause for bringing about samsaric happiness. Well, that is not what we want, although, temporarily, we would like that because we need to have conducive circumstances for going further on the spiritual path. We don’t want too much samsaric happiness, however – like rebirth as a god – because then we are not motivated to do anything. We want just enough happiness so that we can benefit from the positive aspects of a precious human life.

If, however, we build up positive force with the intention for it to act as a cause for liberation and we also dedicate the positive force to that end, it will function in that way even before we have an understanding of voidness. And if we dedicate it to enlightenment – to our own enlightenment and everybody’s enlightenment and to our ability to help everybody reach that enlightenment – it will contribute to this enlightenment-building positive force. And the aspect, or facet, of that enlightenment-building positive force – that network (because all the force combines and networks with each other to get stronger and stronger) – not yet giving rise to a result is the not-yet-happening of our enlightenment. It’s rather technical, but we spoke about that this weekend.

Similarly, we can build up a network of deep awareness. That is sometimes called the “collection of wisdom,” but actually, it is deep awareness. It is built up by focusing non-conceptually on voidness. But we can start to work in that direction with the conceptual understanding of voidness and working with the five types of deep awareness – the mirror-like awareness, etc. That likewise has an aspect, or a facet, of not yet giving rise to its result, and that’s the not-yet-happening of our enlightenment. 

OK. So, that not-yet-happening of our enlightenment is imputed on our mental continuums on the basis of the causes – these two networks. Remember, we are speaking about what the basis for it is. The location of it is the absence of our enlightenment, the enlightenment that isn’t happening yet. So, imputed on the basis of the two networks is our individual enlightenments (it’s always individual) that will happen but that has not yet happened.

Enlightenment – a Negation Phenomenon (True Stoppings) and an Affirmation Phenomenon (True Pathway Minds)

Now, what is that phenomenon itself, that enlightenment, that will happen but that has not yet happened? Well, we’d have to say that it is a combination of an affirmation phenomenon and a negation phenomenon. When we talk about enlightenment, we are basically talking about the third and fourth noble truths on the mental continuum of a Buddha. So, Dharmakaya refers to the true stopping of the two obscurations, the emotional and cognitive ones, and the true pathways of mind – so, the total non-conceptual cognition of the two truths of everything, appearances and their voidness. Simultaneous with that are the Rupakayas, the various physical appearances of a Buddha.

So, there are the true stoppings and true paths on the mind of a Buddha. That is the Dharma refuge, the Dharma Jewel, I should say. The Buddha refuge are the Rupakayas, the Form Bodies that are attained simultaneous with and on the basis of the Dharma Jewel. So, when we aim for enlightenment, we we are aiming for the affirmation phenomena, true pathway minds and Form Bodies, and the negation phenomena, the true stoppings of the two obscurations. 

Now, remember our definition of negation phenomenon. It is something that would be negated through a concept of it. So, we have a concept of that future enlightenment. It’s not yet happening, but we could imagine it. But it will happen; it’s just not yet happening. But it doesn’t exist anywhere. That is the important thing to remember. It is not that the not-yet-happening enlightenment will transform into the presently happening enlightenment. It is the two networks that will transform into our future enlightenment that has not yet happened. But we can aim for and think in terms of that enlightenment that will happen but that is not yet happening. 

The state of mind is wishing: we are wishing to attain that enlightenment. That is what we are aiming for with the intention, based on love and compassion, for everybody to be happy and to be free of suffering. And that means everybody, so it’s great compassion and great love equally for everybody. So, an equal attitude toward everybody plus the exceptional resolve: “I’m going to do it, and I’m going to help them all way to enlightenment,” not just help them across the street. Bodhichitta is supported by all these mental factors – love and compassion equally toward everyone, exceptional resolve and intention.  

Visualizing the Buddha-Figures as Representations of Our Not-Yet-Happening Enlightenment

Now, what actually appears? What appears is just our mental continuum and these two collections, as it were, these two networks. It’s difficult to have any appearance of that. So, sometimes we can represent that with a visualization, one that we would do on the level that we are at. So, we can visualize a Buddha. In sutra, we focus on a Buddha for gaining shamatha (single-minded concentration). We focus on a Buddha in front of us as the field for building up positive force (the so-called field of merit) when we take refuge (safe direction), make prostrations and stuff like that. 

Remember, what is it that we do when we take refuge, when we put this positive direction in our lives and develop bodhichitta? Develop bodhichitta, by the way, doesn’t mean developing it for the first time. “Develop” sounds like that. It means that we strengthen it, we reinforce it, we reaffirm it. That is the real connotation of the Tibetan verb tense that’s used here for “develop.” It’s not developing something for the first time; it’s to cause it to develop further. So, that is what we’re doing. 

So, when we take refuge and develop bodhichitta, we are always visualizing the field of merit in front of us (to use the simple vocabulary). That is Buddha. That represents the object of safe direction (and when we visualize ourselves as a Buddha-figure in tantra, it is the same thing). We are going in that direction and, then, even further with bodhichitta. But we understand that we are not there yet. It’s all on the basis of voidness, which is another aspect of Buddha-nature – that the mind, the mental continuum, doesn’t inherently exist as either samsaric or enlightened from its own side. It depends on causes and conditions and so on. So, that voidness is one aspect of Buddha-nature. 

If We Are Not Convinced That We Have the Causes, How Can We Infer Enlightenment?

And it is very important when it comes to bodhichitta to really have a good understanding of Buddha-nature, these two networks, and to understand that there is a cause. That’s because it is on the basis of that cause that the not yet happening of our enlightenment, which will happen, is imputed. It is on the basis of that. So, if we are not convinced that we have the causes, how can we infer enlightenment? And if we are not convinced that the causes will be able to transform into enlightenment, then, similarly, what are we doing with bodhichitta? 

Love, compassion and these things bring us into that state of bodhichitta… you know, “How am I going to be able to help everybody?” Well, it’s only if we become Buddhas. But it is not just a nice wish: “May I become Superman. May I become Wonder Woman.” It’s not like that. Instead, it’s with a firm conviction that it is possible and that we have the causes for it. And it’s not only that we have the causes for it but that everybody else has the causes for it. If we aren’t convinced that everybody else has the causes for it, what are we doing trying to help them reach their enlightenment?

That really requires an understanding of positive force and deep awareness and being convinced that everybody has some positive force. This gets into… Well, first of all, we have beginningless time, so that helps. But there is no one whose positive force, the so-called roots of virtue, have been completely cut. That was a big discussion in Chittamatra, actually. There is no such thing. Everybody has some positive force. You could weaken it tremendously, but you can’t get rid of it completely.

Why Does Everybody Have Positive Force?

Now, it becomes an interesting question, which, I must say, I haven’t thought out completely: why is it that everybody has positive force? It’s an interesting question. The thing that comes to my mind is motherly love. His Holiness always emphasizes how important that is because that’s the basis for having love and compassion – being taught as a baby to have love and compassion and being shown love and compassion. It is also a big thing in bodhichitta meditation to recognize motherly love – to recognize everybody has having been our mother. So, it seems to be almost an instinctive part of a mental continuum to have this type of motherly love to take care of others.

Now, in dzogchen – Nyingma system – they speak of the different aspects of mind. One of those aspects is described by the word “compassion.” It doesn’t mean compassion exactly, but it means the aspect of the mind that goes out and, so, interacts in the sense of making appearances arise. But in general, it’s the energy going out. So, that becomes like a Samboghakaya aspect (and making appearances would be like a Nirmanakaya aspect). But that’s called “compassion”; it’s given the name “compassion.” 

In Zen, they always say that if you quiet down sufficiently, you are able to access the basic love and compassion of the mind. Except for reciting the line, “May everybody be happy and everybody be free of suffering,” they, in general, don’t really do love and compassion meditation. It’s very much just to quiet down, and then it is naturally there. Mind you, that fits in with the Confucian philosophy of Mencius. But aside from that, that is a fairly traditional Chinese way of thinking. Nevertheless, these are some of the indications that compassion, love, and these sorts of things are part of our basic makeup. And on the basis of that, there is always some positive force. So, everybody has that because everybody, at some point, has been a mother – our mother – and we’ve been a mother. Everybody has been a mother.

Deep Awareness – The Five Types  

When it comes to deep awareness… well, it doesn’t necessarily mean that we have an understanding of voidness. We certainly don’t. However, remember in our discussion of the five so-called Buddha-wisdoms, the five types of deep awareness that everybody has, that that is there. So, we have: 

[1] Mirror-like awareness, which takes in information – the worm does that; it takes in information 

[2] Equalizing awareness, which puts things together, sees patterns 

[3] Individualizing awareness that is able to understand the individuality of this and that – “This is my child,” “That is not my child,” etc. And this extraordinary thing – we were talking about this movie about penguins in which you have a hundred thousand penguins. To us they all look all alike. The males and the females go off to the ocean, and when they come back, they are able to find their mate in this group of a hundred thousand. So that is the individualizing awareness. That’s extraordinary if you think about it. So there is this individualizing awareness, whether it’s based on smell or whatever.

[4] Accomplishing awareness, which is to relate to things so that you know what to do with them. Worms have that. They know that when they see food, it’s something to eat. They know what to do with it. We all have that.

[5] Awareness of reality. On a conventional level, it’s just to know what things are. You don’t have to have name for them, just to know what they are. On the deepest level, it would be awareness of how things exist. We might not have that, but we have all the other things. 

So, everybody has a basis for this network of deep awareness. If we understand that, then we understand that it is just a matter of building it up strongly enough and getting rid of the so-called fleeting stains, the emotional and cognitive obscurations, to get it to function fully.

So, the aspect of those two networks – the not-yet-giving-rise to its result but that will give rise to it because these fleeting stains obscuring them arise on the basis of unawareness; they are not supported by reality, and they can be gotten rid of. So, there is the enlightenment that is not yet happening but that will happen is something that is knowable, even though it is not present now, not happening now. And when we can know it or can focus on or think of it, we can focus on it with bodhicitta. It’s not that it exists somewhere over there or in another dimension. But just because it is not present doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist. And as we discussed, if it were totally nonexistent, it could never stop being totally nonexistent. And if it were truly existent – then what are we doing? We should be there already. So, neither of those things make sense.

Bodhichitta Meditation

Realizing that everyone has the ability to become Buddhas is very important so that we can aim for enlightenment with a full altruistic motivation of bodhichitta and not just the wish to attain it only for our own benefit. Then we can follow all the various aspects of the teachings that Nagarjuna outlines here with bodhichitta and not just renunciation, because the majority of these teachings apply to both working to attain liberation and working to attain enlightenment. The only difference between working toward liberation or enlightenment is basically the motivation. That’s the Prasangika point of view. For the other schools, to attain liberation, you need to understand only the selflessness of persons, not the voidness of all phenomena. But that is not Nagarjuna’s position according to the Prasangika understanding of Nagarjuna. You need the full understanding of the voidness of all phenomena to attain both liberation and enlightenment. So, that is why everything here is basically presented in terms of the main factors that we need for liberation. 

Is that clear? Any questions about that? It’s always very puzzling. Everybody wants to do bodhichitta meditation, but then, what are you doing? A lot of people just do compassion and love meditation. That’s not bodhichitta meditation. It’s what you have to do first, but that’s not the actual focus on bodhichitta. 

So, we need some representation of the enlightenment that’s not yet happening, an understanding of what it represents (that’s why these Buddha-figures and so on in tantra are helpful: it gives you some sort of representation), and a conviction in our ability and everybody’s ability to achieve it. Then the state of mind is a strong interest, don-du gnyer is the Tibetan word that Geshe Tenzin Zangpo used. It’s that we want to get that point near to us. Literally, it means “going close” to that point. It is associated with ‘dun-pa, intention, wishing to attain it and being intent on attaining it. And we are going to achieve that. It’s a dynamic type of thing with the intention to achieve it – the intention to help everybody by means of that because it’s based on love, compassion, and the exceptional resolve. And then we stay focused in that state of mind. 

Not so easy, actually. But unless we have a clear idea of what in the world we are doing once we actually build up to bodhichitta, whether we are doing it through the seven-part cause and effect or the equalizing, the exchanging self and others method… well, now what do we focus on single-mindedly in a state of bodhichitta? That is very, very important to know. 

“Phase Transitions” – Going from an Ordinary Being to an Arya Being

Participant: Concerning this building up of networks, I remember that once you were talking about a certain point where the system undergoes a phase transition. I was impressed that the Tibetans actually had this kind of concept as part of the Dharma.

Dr. Berzin: It didn’t get on the recording that in the discussion of the build-up of these networks, it goes through what in the West would be called a “phase transition” – so, the phase transition from somebody who hasn’t developed one of these pathway minds to someone who has the building-up pathway of mind – in other words, when their bodhichitta is no longer labored. On the Mahayana path, “labored” means that you have to build it up with equanimity – like, everybody has been my mother, motherly love, etc. Unlabored is when you don’t have to do that; it’s just – bam! – you have it. Then you have the building-up pathway mind. So, there is a phase transition then. Then there is another phase transition when your understanding of voidness has become non-conceptual, and then another phase transition when you get rid of the emotional obscurations and become an arhat, and another phase transition when you become a Buddha. They don’t call it “phase transition” as such, but there are definite… you have a different name. You are no longer an “ordinary being”: you are an “arya.” Or you are no longer a “samsaric being”: you are an “arhat.”

So, our discussion of past and future actually is very relevant not only in terms of karma, which is what we discussed over the weekend, but also in terms of bodhichitta.

Do Past, Present, and Future Exist Somewhere?

Participant: You say that enlightenment can happen and will happen. So, would you say that it is not there, somewhere existing, so… For me, it is a paradox to say that somewhere it will happen but that it doesn’t exist somewhere. So, how can you say that?

Dr. Berzin: So the question is, doesn’t it seem like a paradox to say that something will happen but that it doesn’t yet exist? What about the year 2008? Something that, hopefully, will happen. Does it exist somewhere? Is it happening somewhere? Is the year 2008 somewhere else? Is it? 

Participant: It’s somewhere.

Dr. Berzin: It’s not somewhere else. Is the year 2008 totally non-existent? Well, you can’t say it is totally non-existent; then it could never happen. Is it something that can be known? I could imagine it. What is the basis for knowing it? The year 2007. Imputed on that, there will be a next year, and its number will be 2008. But what is happening now is an absence of 2008. It is not happening now. Jorge is absent from the room. It doesn’t mean that he doesn’t exist. But in that example, he is somewhere else. It is not like that. I think that it becomes a little bit easier to understand to think in terms of next year. Where is 2006? I don’t know. It is certainly not present now. Is it something that we could know? Yes. I know what happened with 2006. 

Participant: So, if 2007 is happening right now, what was yesterday? 

Dr. Berzin: Well, that’s the interesting thing. If 2007 is happening now, what was yesterday? Is 2007 identical with this moment? Where is 2007? It is not the same as any of its parts. Its parts are each day. It’s not the same as them, not the same as anyone of them. It is not the same as all of them because you can’t have all of them happening at the same time, can you? So, you can’t ever have all of them present at the same time. You can have little boxes on pieces of paper, which is called the calendar, and you can have the number 2007 written on it. Is that the year 2007? Well, that would be pretty boring if that were the year 2007, wouldn’t it? 

This is why we say it is something that is imputed (zuschreiben, in German). It is imputed on all these days. Only one moment is happening at a time. So, when does 2007 happen? Where is it? Now, why would you want to analyze that? You want to analyze that to overcome disturbing emotions that you might have in relation to it: “Oh, this is a terrible year; this is my bad luck year!” “Oh, it’s going to be such a great year!” All these high expectations and disappointments. Or “Seven is a lucky number. So, if we can get married on July 7 of 2007, we will be happy for eternity” –  this type of superstition. So, we need to understand the reality of that. 

“Existent” Means Validly Knowable

There are things that have not yet happened. They’re things that are knowable, but they’re just not present. When we say “existent”… I think this is maybe the source of confusion. “Existent” doesn’t mean here, right now. “Existent” just means knowable, validly knowable. That’s difficult. That is difficult. But I think different years help… or historical events. When you study history, what are you studying? Something that doesn’t exist at all? Is it still happening? It’s not still happening, but you are learning about it. Are you learning about nothing? 

Participant: That’s the question that I asked.

Dr. Berzin: That’s the question that you asked. That’s why you are here, OK.

Participant: Why do you study history? It’s all dead.

Dr. Berzin: It’s all dead? Now we have to go to the wise man of China, Confucius. He said to learn from history – that history’s the greatest teacher. And that’s true. That’s true. History is very important. 

But what is history? When you start to analyze, this is a very… I love this. Pardon my enthusiasm. But, you know, it’s like saying “the revolution.” What’s the revolution? There were a million people, and each person had a different experience and was on a different street and doing a different thing. What’s the revolution? It is what is imputed on each person’s individual experience, isn’t it? Then you have revolution. And there is a concept of revolution. Here it is in the dictionary. Somebody made up the word, made a definition, and there it is. Did something happen? Yes, it happened. But where did happen? You can’t pinpoint it. So, yes, it happened. But to go out and kill for it and wave flags and get all excited? No, this is silly – unless there is a benefit to doing it. Maybe there is – to inspire people or whatever. But one has to understand the reality of any historical event or of history. Nevertheless, you can learn from it. So, it performs a function. Look at that. Performs a function – our Sautrantika definition of truly established existence: it performs a function.

There Is No Causal Relationship Between a No-Longer Happening and a Presently-Happening 

Participant: Maybe it’s better to say that the present is a product of the past, not the history.

Dr. Berzin: The present is a product of the past? Wrong! [Claps hands] The past doesn’t transform into the present. This is the interesting thing. A not-yet-happening doesn’t transform into a presently-happening. And a presently-happening doesn’t transform into a not-yet-happening. The not-yet-happening and the no-longer-happening are negation phenomena. And the presently-happening is an affirmation phenomenon. 

It’s the causes that transform into the present moment. It’s not that there is an event… this is what we were discussing over the weekend. There isn’t a common… we couldn’t find a good word for it… a common locus, something, between an event that is not yet happening, presently happening, and no longer happening. In other words, there isn’t some event that moves along the conveyer belt of time and transforms (changes its functions or its aspect or its nature) from not yet happening to happening now and then to no longer happening as if it were on a stage in a theater and comes from one side… you know, it’s off stage, and now it’s on stage, and then it’s no longer on stage. It’s not like that.

Participant: But from a conventional point of view…

Dr. Berzin: From a conventional point of view there is continuity from moment to moment. But a continuum of years, where one year, like 2007, first is not-yet-happening, then presently-happening and then no-longer-happening, is not driven by gross cause and effect, like 2006 being the cause of 2007 or the not-yet-happening 2007 being the cause of the presently-happpening 2007 as its results. And the year 2007 isn’t a fixed thing that moves through time. 

Why is that important? Relate it to yourself. How will I progress? Dummy me – that’s who I am. I can’t improve. It’s not like that. Causes and effects. Everything concerning my progression towards enlightenment will be in terms of causes and effects without there being a solid “me” that is passing through time as a dummy. That’s so important. That’s all it is. It’s causes and effects consisting of five aggregate factors – so, some sort of consciousness and mental factors, various objects of cognition, feeling happy and unhappy because of the ripening of karma, distinguishing this and that, and so on. Cause and effect. You can label “me” on top of that just like you can label “2006” on top of all the days. That is the sequence of a continuum. 

In that way, in any moment, you can say, “Well, there is a no-longer-happening of this and a not-yet-happening of that.” That is just imputed in terms of absences. What is present now is their absence. All you know is the present moment. And even that you can’t find because it is divided into micro moments and nanoseconds. So, you’re not going to find anything. It doesn’t stay still. It’s like the Heisenberg uncertainty principle – that you can’t find the location and momentum of a particle at the same time; it’s constantly moving. But it is not that we are moving through time. It is not like that. It is just cause and effect, cause and effect. 

The sooner we understand that, the more quickly we will put all our effort into building up causes for the effects that we would like to achieve. That is why we do meditation. Meditation is to build up positive habits and to familiarize ourselves through repetition, meditating on love, concentration, whatever… patience.

So, it works like that. There is not a “me” traveling through time, going from one lifetime to another. Alright? Any other questions? Excuse me for such a diversion, but sometimes I get inspired talking about this topic. It’s helpful, I think. I hope.

OK. Back to our outline where Nagarjuna is speaking about how to extract ourselves from the disturbing emotions – namely, to get liberation – and how to set out toward enlightenment. Setting out for enlightenment basically follows a similar type of path but with the full understanding of voidness, which we need for liberation anyway, and bodhichitta. And that we discussed – how to set out for enlightenment, having confidence in liberation, the result. We have to understand what the result is (not yet happening) and then practicing the true pathway minds as the cause. That is what we need to do: build up the causes… you know, the basic cause, the obtainer cause, the cause that will transform into enlightenment – so, the true pathway minds and true stoppings. 

A true stopping is on the basis of the voidness of the mind because the mind has never been stained by any of this junk; it is devoid of impossible ways of existing, devoid of all the fleeing stains as well. That is the basis for true stoppings and true pathway minds, the two networks that are there. So, that is the obtainer cause – what would transform. Voidness doesn’t transform, but these two networks transform like a seed into the sprout. When we have a sprout, we don’t have a seed anymore. When we have the Bodies of a Buddha, we don’t have these networks anymore. And for that to happen, we need lots of circumstances. We need to build up more and more of this positive force and deep awareness. It reaches like a critical mass, and – bam! – it goes to the next phase transition. 

We also have to gather all the circumstances. What are some of the circumstance? Precious human life – we’re going to need that. Spiritual teacher – we’re going to need that. Hearing the teachings, thinking and meditating on them in each lifetime – we’re going to need that. Other beings to help so that we can build up this positive force – we’re going to need that. There are many, many circumstances and things that have to be there.

Then we need to build up these true pathway minds, which are what will actually bring about the result that I was referring to. Pathway minds are the levels of mind that act as pathways to bring us to the goal (here, we’re talking about enlightenment). And that is when we get non-conceptual cognition – to speak in the most general sense – of the four noble truths. We see, (1) “Oh! This is real suffering,” referring to samsara and all the junk that’s with samsara and the disturbing emotions and all this junk, and (2) the causes for the true suffering, which is our unawareness, basically, of how we and everything exist, and (3) true stopping of it and (4) the true pathways mind that lead to it. 

We have a non-conceptual cognition of that, which means not through the medium of a category. Whatever in the world that means. It’s very difficult to really understand what non-conceptual cognition is because everything that we cognize, except for microseconds, is conceptual, through categories. In any case, we have non-conceptual cognition of that and also the understanding of the voidness of the person who understands and the voidness of all of this stuff – so, the seeing pathway mind, which is when we first have this non-conceptual understanding. Then we get rid of the doctrinally based disturbing emotions, all the false propaganda junk that we were taught and believed. Then there’s an accustoming pathway of mind, or path of meditation, with which we get rid of the automatically arising junk. 

The First Six Links

Now, in that discussion, Nagarjuna is speaking about the antidote – so, how to get rid, basically, of this uncontrollably recurring rebirth and how to get liberation, which is what we will need in order to get enlightenment as well. This is the discussion of the twelve links of dependent arising – in other words, what describes the causal sequence that perpetuates samsara and how we can break it. 

So, we have these verses (we have read them many times because we don’t ever seem to get beyond this point), Verses 109 through 111: 

[109] From unawareness, karmic impulses come forth; from them, consciousness; from that, name and form; from them, the cognitive stimulators are caused; and from them, contacting awareness, the Able Sage has declared.

[110] From contacting awareness, feelings (of a level of happiness) originate; on the basis of feelings, craving comes to arise; from craving, an obtainer emotion or attitude comes to develop; from that, an impulse for further existence; and from an impulse for further existence, rebirth. 

[111] When rebirth has occurred, then an extremely great mass of sufferings will have arisen, such as sorrow, sickness, aging, deprivation of what we desire, and fear of death; but, by stopping rebirth, all of these (sufferings) will have been stopped.

So, we have the sequence. Unawareness is the basic root of all the samsaric trouble that we experience. It is specifically the unawareness of how persons exist – ourselves and others – both the doctrinally based one, which is based on what we have been taught by other views (in terms of the soul and so on), and the automatically arising one, which refers, you recall, to feeling that there is a “me” that can be known separately from a body, mind, etc. – as in “I know Andreas.” What do you mean I know Andreas? How can I know Andreas or see Andreas without seeing his body? How can I know him without knowing something about him – his personality, his mind, what he looks like, etc.? But we tend to think things like, “I want you to love me for me, not for my possessions, not for anything, but to love me,” as if there were a “me” – separate – that could be loved just by itself. That’s an automatically arising unawareness. And from that, karmic impulses come forth. 

We discussed that quite a lot last time, I believe – how various disturbing emotions come up, and then a karmic impulse arises. When we talk about karma, we are talking about the impulses that actually bring us into an action. It could be an impulse that brings us into the mental action of thinking, or it could be one that’s enacted physically or verbally – to say or do something. You could have the impulse to think about killing somebody, but then you don’t actually do it. Still, that’s a karmic impulse and a karmic mental action, and it will have karmic consequences.

Then there’s the link of consciousness, loaded consciousness. Loaded consciousness refers to the mental continuum that has the aftermath – tendencies, karmic forces, etc. – built up by these karmic impulses. That has one phase in a current lifetime and then another phase in a future lifetime. 

In that future lifetime, we have name and form – so, starting to have some physical basis. The distinguishing, feelings of levels of happiness, and these sorts of things can given a name, but they’re not yet evolved. Form could be there. It could be like in a formless realm (realm of formless beings). Anyway. 

Then the cognitive stimulators are caused. That refers to within the fetus. Now it’s not just undifferentiated consciousness; consciousness is differentiated into seeing, hearing, smelling, etc. And the physical body is differentiated into the different sensorial cells that will be the physical basis for seeing, hearing and so on – so, the photosensitive cells of the eyes, the sound sensitive of the ears, etc. So, it’s a stage of development of the fetus. 

Then the sixth link, contacting awareness. We had a big discussion about that. I looked up the Sanskrit word for “pleasant” or “pleasing,” which is  manojñā, which means “the mind knowing (something),” which connotes the mind knowing something comfortably. The Tibetan translators rendered it as yid-du ‘ong-ba or “comes to the mind (easily).” We’ve had attention, paying attention. That was “taking to mind” – so, how you take something to mind. This is just going to the mind. And the connotation of the Sanskrit and the Tibetan words (because we had a lot of difficulty with the words “pleasant” and “unpleasant” contacting awareness, in German at least) also has the concept of “beautiful.” So, it is that when you are aware of a certain object, you have like an attraction to it. It’s the mental factor that is attracted to it because it considers it nice, considers it pleasant, considers it beautiful. It likes it. Or it could be the opposite – that it doesn’t like it, doesn’t find it beautiful. So, this is contacting awareness. And the quality of it, the mental quality… it’s not quite an emotion; it’s more cognitive – how you consider something (though it’s not the mental factor of consideration). So, it is in-between a feeling, an emotion, and a way of considering it. Perhaps. 

We discussed that the contacting awareness of something as pleasant or unpleasant is probably on the basis of habit. It’s talking about the most fundamental thing of why, for instance, you like chocolate and you don’t like vanilla. Habit. It could also be influence of others. “I don’t like raw tomatoes – everybody in my family hates raw tomatoes. I was indoctrinated since I was very small by my mother and uncle, etc. A raw tomato? Yuck! You don’t want to eat that; it must be cooked.” So, the influence of others – that also could be there. I mean, what’s wrong with a raw tomato? Nothing. But we can be taught very much by our parents to either like… “Ooh, this is really delicious,” or “eat this” and make a face and stick the spoon in your face as a baby – it has a very different impression. It can be what is available, the circumstances around, that cause you to like something. If the only thing that is available is dried, raw yak meat… well, that’s all that’s available; you either like it or you don’t eat. There are many different things that can reinforce and cause what we like and dislike. So, it is not quite only karmic.

Then there is the next step, which is feeling. Actually, we touched on this once already. Feeling is happy, unhappy, or indifferent or neutral, which is very rare because if you have a scale, it is hardly ever that the needle is going to be in the exact middle. So, it will be a little bit of happy, a little bit of unhappy. 

It is very important, actually, to try to recognize these very subtle levels of happy and unhappy. We tend to think that happy should be overjoyed, big, big smile on our face, and “Whoopee! I’m so happy.” But, actually, a relaxed, calm level of happiness is something that is much more sustainable and in the long term much more satisfying. So, happy/unhappy – it’s the way that we experience the ripening of our karma. A very, very interesting definition. It’s the first two types of suffering: the suffering of unhappiness and the suffering of ordinary happiness, which changes, never satisfies, and the more you have of it, normally, it changes into unhappiness – like, the more you eat of your favorite food in one sitting, eventually, the fuller you get and the more painful it gets to eat. So, we have that.

Happy is that feeling that, when you experience it, you would like not be separated from it – so, another definition. And unhappiness is the feeling that, when you experience it, you would like it to end. That’s just sort of a general type of thing. We are not talking here about the next link, which is craving – that “Ah! I’ve got to get rid of this,” or “Ah! This has got to continue.” That’s stronger. Here it’s just in general. On the basis of pleasant contacting awareness, you have the feeling of liking it, and then you feel happy; you want it to continue. You don’t want to part from it; you want to continue having this object. With unpleasant contacting awareness, you want it to end; so, unhappy. “I don’t like this”; therefore, you feel unhappy. That is the aggregate of feeling. 

We experience some level of happy and unhappy every single moment. Maybe when we are in deep sleep, we are in this neutral thing of not feeling happy or unhappy, although, obviously, there is some subtle level of that. Otherwise, why do we change position in our sleep? Why do we roll over? There’s got to be some subtle level of being uncomfortable, of being unhappy. So, we change position. So, we have subtle levels of feeling as well. We could feel cold while we’re sleeping and wake up, couldn’t we? Well, that’s a physical feeling, but probably, there is some unhappiness with that because we don’t want to be cold. So, the contacting awareness with cold is unpleasant, and then we’re unhappy, and we wake up.

Anyway, we have feeling. That leads now to the big troublemakers: craving and an obtainer disturbing emotion or attitude. Craving – what are we talking about here? Although we could analyze the twelve links in each moment, that’s not the usual analysis. The usual analysis is about what perpetuates samsara and, specifically, what perpetuates rebirth. So, when we speak about the karmic aftermath… well, let’s just speak very simply in terms of the karmic potentials that have certainty to them. Here, we’re talking about strongly motivated destructive or constructive karmic impulses, whose karmic aftermath will ripen into the next rebirth. They have the ability, the strength, to throw the mental continuum into another rebirth. Then there are weaker ones, weaker impulses, that complete the circumstances of that rebirth.

So, we are talking about being thrown into a rebirth as, let’s say, a dog with all the aggregates that go together with a dog. So, we have a tail and long hair all over our body. We will have certain habits and a dog mentality. So, when we’re happy, we’ll wag our tail. When we’re hot, because we can’t sweat, we have to stick our tongue out all the time in order to be cool. We lift our leg when we have to pee. All these sorts of things that go with dog.

It is interesting what comes with being a dog. I had a dog in India, so I used to think quite a lot about what the specific characteristics of a dog were – how they scratch things, how if you give it a bone, he’ll maybe go out and bury it so that he can have it for later. We sort of bury it in the refrigerator or something like that, but they bury it in the ground. There are a lot of things that dogs do that cats don’t do. Anyway, enough!

So, throwing karma throws us into that rebirth. Then the completing karma is going to complete the circumstances. Are we going to be a street dog in Calcutta? Are we going to be the pet dog of the Dalai Lama? What are the circumstances? Are we going to be fed tremendously in some rich person’s house, or are we going to be on the street looking for garbage or those unmentionable things that Indian dogs eat? That is completing karma.

Now, when we have these karmic potentials and tendencies, karmic forces and habits and so on, on the mental continuum, they need to be activated so that they can actually throw the mental continuum into a next rebirth. And these links here, craving and an obtainer emotion or attitude, will obtain, or get, the next rebirth for us. That’s what activates this throwing karma. This is the real thing that we want to stop. And it is the unawareness that is behind all of it that causes these disturbing emotions and attitudes.

So, craving is focused on the feeling of unhappiness or happiness of the previous link. Craving is a very, very strong… Actually, the Sanskrit word is “thirsting” (tṛṣṇā). Everybody, including myself, translates it as “craving.” Tibetans don’t translate it with the word “thirsty,” but the Sanskrit word means “thirst.” So, you’re just dying of thirst. You’ve got to have this happiness and not let go of it – although it works in the opposite way as well: you thirst to be rid of the unhappiness. So, it gives a certain quality to it. 

You can’t use the word “thirsty,” really, in our Western languages because it doesn’t quite fit, but when you know the actual words that were used in Sanskrit and how the Tibetans worked with it (I haven’t looked up how it’s translated into Chinese), it’s very interesting. It gives you a little bit more of a clue as to the flavor of this word. So, it’s this craving; you’re dying of thirst. “I don’t want to be rid of this; I want to be rid of that. I don’t want to be rid of the happiness; I want to be rid of the unhappiness.” And with neutral feeling – “I’d like to continue; I’d just like to stay asleep, not feel anything.” This type of thing. That is craving. So, that starts to activate the karmic potentials and tendencies and so on.   

Then we have the link called an “obtainer.” That sometimes is translated as “grasping.” That’s a terrible translation. Literarily, the word in Tibetan is “to take,” upadāna, in Sanskrit. 

So, it is what will take, or obtain, for us, the next rebirth. It is the same word that is used with the aggregates – the obtainer aggregates, which are the type of aggregates that will obtain for us another rebirth. It’s a type of cause. An obtainer cause is like the seed that transforms into the result. It is the same word, len-pa. So, to call it “grasping,” which then confuses it with grasping for true existence, doesn’t do justice to the term. 

So, it is what is going to get for us… “obtain” means “to get.” It is going to get for us the next rebirth. I call it an “obtainer.” It refers to a long list of certain disturbing emotions and attitudes. Now, the aggregates are called obtainer aggregates if they contain one or more of these. And due to their presence and functioning, we obtain future aggregates that also contain them. What are they? There is a list. There are three. In the delightful Tibetan way of listing them, one of the three has several parts. 

The three are: 

[1] Obtainer Desire

The first one is obtainer desire. Now, craving, its object is the happiness or unhappiness. The obtainer desire is attachment to sense objects; there’s some desirable sense object in the realm of desirable sense objects. So, there is a difference. Let’s say that you are with a loved one and you feel happy. So, you crave for that happiness to continue. The obtainer desire is desire for some physical object, so you grab their hand. You want to hold their hand – “Don’t let go of me.” We’re talking about what happens when we’re dying – “Don’t let go of me.” Or we want to see a picture. If it’s a dog, it might have desire for the smell of its master. It could be desire for the sound of your loved one’s voice. So, that is the difference here between craving and desire in this context. Craving is for the feeling of happiness to stay or for the feeling of unhappiness to go away. The obtainer desire would be to have that object. Or it could be repulsion – the desire to get rid of the pain, the physical pain as opposed to the unhappiness that goes with that. 

It is very important in terms of meditation to try to recognize: is this what is going to happen at the time of death? Is this what happens normally (if we think of the twelve links in terms of ordinary life)? If I think of somebody that I really, really like, I crave for that happiness to be with them, and then I have this desire to always see them, to always hear their voice and to hold their hand – these are two different levels, those of craving and desire. We have that. And that activates karma to continue the whole samsaric cycle, whether we are talking about daily life or we are talking about the time of death. And usually it brings unhappiness, doesn’t it? “I’m so attached to the happiness of being with you that when I am with you, I stare at you all the time and want to hold your hand.” It just drives the other person away. And we never have enough. We really suffer when they leave. This is samsara. Difficult to break. 

But what we need to understand is the voidness here of you – that you are the solid thing that gives me, the solid thing, security and happiness. “I’ve got to have it, and you are the only one who can give it to me. “That is what you have to analyze and see, “This is ridiculous! This is a fairy tale. No such thing.” And here we have an example of a not-yet-happening of something that could never happen, never could have happened. So, you understand there is no such thing; I’m never going to be satisfied. Or I could have your hand glued to my hand. Is that going to make me happy? Hardly. Hardly. We would get tired of that very quickly, especially when we want to roll over in the middle of the night and the other person doesn’t. Do you want to be Siamese twins? Somebody? Not fun. 

[2] Obtainer Deluded Outlook (Three Divisions)

The second type is an obtainer deluded outlook. That is divided into three deluded outlooks. 

There are five root disturbing emotions. So, disturbing emotions… it’s horrible because it’s hard to find any word that really covers these things. “Emotions” isn’t a correct word either. . Sometimes people translate them as “afflictions,” which I find a horrible word because it sounds like you are deformed. But we have  (1) longing desire, (2) anger, (3) naivety (it’s hard to call that an emotion, but what do you call it?), (4)  pride or arrogance, and (5) indecisive wavering – what do you call that? An emotion? An attitude? A state of mind? I don’t know what you call it, but it’s disturbing. 

Participant: Zweifel. 

Dr. Berzin: Zweifel is “doubt.” Indecisive wavering is when you can’t decide. You go back and forth: is it this, or is it that? Should I have chicken, or should I have vegetarian. Should I wear a white skirt, or should I wear a green skirt? You go back and forth and are paralyzed; you can’t do anything. Now, that’s sort of a worldly example of it. But here it is more in terms of “If I do this, will it be helpful or harmful? Do I exist in this way, or do I exist in that way?” There are more profound levels of this indecisive wavering. But it is a big problem. 

If it tends toward a correct decision, then it is a step: “Well, maybe it is like that. Maybe if I scream and yell at this person, ‘Why don’t you want to spend more time with me? Why don’t you…’ that that won’t help. It will probably drive them away.” Or when you get angry with somebody and yell that they are not showing you enough love and expect that the response will be that they’re going to show you more love – that’s not going to happen. You really start to waver: “Maybe that’s not the best way to act.” So, OK. But in general, it could be quite paralyzing. 

So, this is… I don’t know a word to call it. Disturbing emotion? It’s literarily that disturbing state of mind… the word is klesha (Skt. kleśa). It is a state of mind that when it develops, it causes you to lose self-control and disturbs your peace of mind. This is the definition. You lose self-control and you have no peace of mind. So, there are these five. Those are without an outlook, or view – how you view life. Then there are five with an outlook. These I call the “disturbing attitudes.” 

The second obtainer deluded outlook is a set of three of the five deluded outlooks. (Maybe that is not a bad place to stop; so, the next time we will deal with that.) The first one (we’ll do it quite quickly) is: 

• A distorted outlook

A distorted outlook is sometimes translated as “wrong view.” It’s terrible. It sounds like a heresy and that you can burn everybody who has a wrong view. A distorted outlook is basically a denial. It’s a denial of cause and effect, karmic cause and effect. It is to deny, for example, future rebirths or to deny that there will be any effect of our actions, either on ourselves or others – “I can just push ahead of everybody in the queue, and I don’t care what anybody else thinks. I don’t care what they want” So, a complete denial. Or it could be a denial of refuge, a safe and sound direction in life, a denial of there’s anything positive that we can have in life, and so on. 

We could have that at the time of death. We deny that there will be any rebirth; we deny that our behavior will have any effect on future rebirths. It could be very disturbing – “This is my only life; there are no other lives.” So, we have a strong grasping to a “me.” We think there is no safe direction, so we feel completely lost and helpless at the time of death, and we could die with a lot of bitterness. This would be a distorted outlook.

Then we have two more, but that, I think, we need to leave for next time. 

So, this is getting more and more into understanding what perpetuates our samsaric rebirth and what we really need to work on. What we need to work on is the activation of the karmic aftermath. We have a whole bunch of karmic aftermath. So many negativities we have done… beginningless rebirth. And the karmic potentials that are their aftermath. There is only a potential for a result so long as there is the possibility that it can give rise to a result.  So, what we want to do is eliminate whatever could activate this karma and cause it to give a result. 

What underlies this craving and these obtainer emotions and attitudes is our ignorance, our unawareness of how we exist, how things exist. If we can get rid of that, we won’t have anything that will activate all this karmic force, all these karmic potentials and tendencies. And then we won’t have rebirth, samsaric rebirth. We will die anyway, but it won’t be a samsaric type of death. We will be able to continue with a completely different type of body and mind, one that’s liberated. Then we will be able to help others and make much more progress on the path.