conditions for achieving enlightenment will be very powerful and effective. ln our modern world there has been great material development and far-reaching in- tellectual achievement, but anxiety remains. Generally, 、、 meet 、 Mith adverse crrcumstances, they cause us tO lose our tempers, our po 、 Mers ofjudgment fail, and we become discouraged and depressed. But for a practi- t10ner Of mind tralning, these adverse C1rcumstances provide favorable conditions, Just as poison can some- times be transformed intO something beneficial like medicine.When the very crrcumstances that cause or- dinary persons tO create disturbing emotio ns can be transformed intO favorable conditions, lt iS really mar- velous. A practitioner 、 MhO can dO this is called a person ofgreat intelligence, a person ofgreat capacrty. Although I do not claim any high realization in the practice Of mind traming, I have srncere admiration for and faith in this instruction. So when I hear things being said against me and 、 I meet with adverse crrcumstances, I try tO apply the instructlons outlined here. , practitloner 、 Mh() can transform adverse crr- cumstances intO favorable CO nditions will be affected by nothing. Whether that person is traveling or staying one place, eating or doing anything else, he or she will be constantly a 、 of 、 MOrking for Other sentient beings. Deep down, such a person is calm and free 0f anxiety. The body becomes a realm ofjoy, because no external circumstances can disturb that persons pres- ence ofmind. The body could 0 be called a conflict- free zone, because for that person, there iS no lnner AV ′ A K E N I N G T H E M I N D , L I G H T E N I N G T H E H E A RT

222 realization leads tO the unders tanding that there iS no lntrinsically eXIStent, truly existent, or independent person. ・ When you have ascertained that, you have re- alized the selflessness of the person. 、・ ext, you can establish the lack of intrrnsrc exrs- tence Of "mine. " Refuting the existence Of an intrrnsic or independentselfleads to understanding the lack of independent existence Of itS belongings tOO. There iS no need [ 0 go through different processes ofreasoning. For as Nagarjuna put it, "lfthe self does not (intrinsi- cally) exist, how will'mine exist?" Similarly, having established the lack of an intrinsically existent "I" in relation tO yourself, you can extend the logic tO under- stand the selflessness Of Other persons tOO. ln establishing the selflessness of phenomena, iden- tifring the Object tO be negated is similar [ 0 what 、 explained concerning the selflessness Of persons. Here agarn you apply the reasoning 0f the absence ofsingu- larity and plurality. You simply change the focus 伝 om the person tO a phenomenon such as your bOdy or a bOOk and determine that it alSO is not ultimately one or many. Phenomena such as the physical and mental components Of a person are free 伝 0n1 being truly one or many because they have parts. Therefore, they do not have innate exlstence. Within our physical body 、 have internal elements, and, similarly, 、 alSO de- pend on external elements. The dependent relation- ship between them is easy to understand. 用ー phenom- ena have parts and there iS no phenomenon that iS partless. If something has form it has parts, because it A ・ WA K E N I N G T H E M I N D , L I G H T E N I N G T H E H E A RT

2 四 This completes the short explanation of the mean- ing of the lines in the "Seven Point Mind Training. HO 、 Mever, the author Ofour text goes on to give a more elaborate explanation. For this he turns tO the tra- dition Of the great lndian spiritual teachers such as Nagarjuna, Aryadeva, and Chandrakirti. This was 0 the Tibetan master Tsong-kha-pa's approach. First we need tO identi$•r ignorance, which is the root Of the cycle Of existence. After that we will estab- lish the meaning Of seIflessness.We come across the 、 MOrd / 〃 0 4 〃化 many tlmes in these kinds Of instruc- tions. Usually / 0 〃化 means a lack ofknowledge, so there are categories Of ignorance. ln the con- text of the process known the twelve links ofdepen- dent arising, ignorance comes first.This means that if you have ignorance, the remalning IinkS in the process of dependent arising will occur. As a result, you will take rebirth in the cycle of birth and death. What is this ignorance? lt is the opposing factor that contradicts a 、 Mareness or kno 、 Mledge. lt is not Just some- thing Other than a 、 Mareness, nor IS it the mere absence Of a 、 Mareness. lt iS the complete opposite of a 、 Mareness or knowledge, with awareness referring specifically to the wisdom understanding that there is no self, Ⅱ 0 in- dependent ex1Stence. lgnorance involves t 、 MO kinds Of misconception Of self: that of persons and that of phenomena. We dis- cnrmnate bet 、 persons and phenomena because the person is the one who enjoys or observes. All the possessrons and Other ObjectS related tO the person are T H AWA K E N I N G V I 見・ W ・ 0 F R E A L I T Y

2 ち body and other physical entities is called the selflessness Of phenomena. The self iS something that has intnnsic ex1Stence without depending on Others. The absence Of this is selflessness. And selflessness is of 20 kinds: self- lessness Of persons and selflessness Of phenomena. To understand the concept of phenomena as desig- nated—dependent on mere names and concepts—•、 might look at the example of the rope and the snake. Seeing a coiled rope at dusk, you might mistake it for a snake. As a result you feel very afraid. Although there is no snake there at , because of the shape and color of the coiled rope at nightfall and due to your own mis- conceptions, メ ou think it is a snake and feel fear. Ap- proaching the coil of rope, you will find it possesses not the slightest quality of a snake in terms of color, shape, and so forth; you are unable to find a snake in the coil of rope. Similarly, even though we call our- selves such and such, ifwe try to analyze who we really are and try tO find that person within our collection Of physical and mental components, we will be unable to find it. Just as the snake does not exist in that COiled rope, phenomena dO not eXISt in their O 、 nght, "out there" in the ObjectS themselves. are mistaken in our designat10n when 、 1 れ 1S - perceive the coiled rope as a snake; we will not be able to find any snake when we search on the basis of that label. Similarly, we may talk of a person and his or her belongings, but when we search for the real person, we do not find it. Still, whether we give that person a Ti- betan name, an lndian name, or an EngliSh name, T H A 、 VA K E N I N G V I ′・ 0 F R E A L I T Y

2 四 the other is invalid. Similarly, the Buddha, sentient be- ings, the cycle 0f existence, and the s ね記 beyond sor- row are the same in the sense that they lack existence. StiII, you must be able tO discrimmate be- t 、 veen those that are ObjectS tO be aspired tO and those that are to be discarded or avoided. How is the view of selflessness to be established? The selfofpersons and the selfofphenomena are bo 市 ObjectS tO be negated. There is no difference bet 、 them in terms of subtlety. But because of some differ- ence Of subtlety in the nature Of the Object, it is said that the selflessness ofpersons IS more easily realized. ln order to establish the selflessness of persons, you must first understand 、 Mhat iS meant y se or person. There are different interpretatlons Of this according tO the various Buddhist schools of thought. The actual object of the conception of self is "l. " This is some- thing that exrsts conventionally, as a designated phe- nomenon, labeled on the basis of the physical and mental components. According tO none of the collection of physical and mental components could be the person. He says we generate a feeling of "l" in relation 「 0 our physical and mental componentS' but we do notsee any ofthem as "I. " We think ofthem as mine. '' For example, we look at our legs and say' "Those are mylegs. ' We do not identify ourselves com- pletely with our legs or our minds or any other 0f our physical and mental components. From these examples 、 move tO the understanding that the person is the mere label designated upon the T H E AWA K E N I N G V I E 、 V 0 F R E A L I T Y

220 basis of the physical and mental components. The physical makg リ p - - .of. 9.- p ド 9 具 . omposed of all these different elements, which. ーⅲ4iⅵdはaリY-町0ーn可さいJ怦 son. Nor トー - 中 5S9 9 妲旦 - of esephys ical and mental compo nents the person. S ti リ , は hg 「らー具 9.- 9 旦、 - リ n re- lated to and sep 4 ーを -- 市ド当ー omp 。 ne s. There- fore, the perso n ex トド、 .. 円 e ツ - -4. ね . ー .. -9- -. -. -. -.. - ! g 巨 9 ldentifying how the self or person exists as a label or designation reveals that it lacks independent or lntrin- SIC exrstence. ThiS is 、 vhat is meant by establishing the selflessness Of persons. SO, it iS said that the deeper your understanding of the way in which things are posited merely as labels and designations, the deeper is your understanding ofemptiness. There are t 、 M() 、 Mays tO present the selflessness 0f the person. ShO 、 that there iS no intrinsically existent I," and showing that nothing exists intrinsically as mrne. " The ultimate nature Of the self is a phenome- non that 、 cannot experlence directly. Generally speaking, phenomena are 0f different types. Some are very obvious and can be perceived directly. They re- quire no logical proof. Other types of phenomena are beyond our direct experience. TO perceive them 、 need to depend on some kind of logical reasoning ・ Emptiness falls intO this category; it is something that needs to be approached through logical reasoning. If your understanding Of selflessness IS confined only tO believing whatthe Buddha said—his mere words—it will not be correct. TO establish the having no intrinstc eXIStence, you first examine your own mind and identifr the 、 AWA K E N I N G T H E M I N D , L I G H T E N I N G T H E H EA RT

229 、 they appear tO us. Mainta1ning an a 、 vareness Of this is the real meaning ofseeing things as like illusions here. lt is said that after メ ou have realized emptiness, it IS not necessary tO make a special effort for things tO appear as like illusions; lt occurs naturally. The author says that in the past certain scholars mistook the meamng of the example of an illusion. They interpreted itto imply thatthings do not exist at all. They said that although persons appear as persons, in reality they are not persons, and so 応 r 市 . This is mistaken understanding Of emptiness. If a vase 、 vere not a vase, how could it be a pillar or anything else? You 、 Mould have tO say that the vase does not eXISt at all. If that were the case, smce there would be no basis on 、 MhiCh tO explain emptiness, there would be no emptiness either. A perfect understanding Of empti- ness should reinforce your understanding of depen- dent arising. lt should not deny the very existence of phenomena. There are ハ MO types ofillusion. One refers tO empti- ness, which means that although things exist, they do not have true or lntrrnsrc eXIStence. Other interpre- tation iS that although they lack true existence, they prOJect the appearance Of existing in that 、 vay.. ・ When a magician conJures up an illusory horse, the magical horse appears tO hiS visual perception. But in hiS mind he kno 、 vs that it is deceptive and that it is not actually a horse. SO he perceives itS illusory nature. Similarly, 、 a person realizes emptiness, even 、 things appear tO be truly existent, she sees them as illusory. T H E AWA K N I N G V I を W 0 F R E A L I T Y

210 phenomena. lt is the person WhO 、 vants tO achieve lib- eration and enJOY happiness. Due tO ignorance or the mrsconception Of self 、 Mithin us, ℃ first serze on our 0 、 selves as lntrinsically existent.We then identify our belongings as mrne. " The object of the miscon- ception Of self in relation tO persons iS the conven- tional "I. " And the objects of the misconception ofself ln relation tO phenomena are conventional phenom- ena. lgnorance exaggerates these ObjectS' per- sons and phenomena as existing independently or ln- trinsically. ln order tO establish selflessness, 、 need tO negate these exaggerations. But 、 must be careful tO identify Just what we are seeking to negate. lfwe failto differen- tlate between true exrstence and conventional eXIS- tence, 、、 go t00 far and negate exrstence in general. We will be unable to assert even the valid existence of persons and phenomena. As a result we will be unable tO demonstrate the existence Of the path and the resul- tant fully awakened state ofthe Buddha. We will also be unable to justify the infallibility of the principle of cause and effect. Similarly, 、 should not underestlmate 、 Mhat iS tO be negated. That is to say, we should not negate too lit- tle. AII Buddhist philosophical schools accept what are known as the four seals. The Buddha taught, first, that all composite phenomena are transitory WhiCh means that everything is dependent on other factors. Second' all contaminated things are miserable. does not AWA K E N I N G T H M I N D , L I G H T E N I N G T H E H E A R T

221 the innate conception 0f self apprehends its object. There are two methods for doing this: analytical medi- tation and single-pointed meditation. Analytical medi- tation, which we are engaged in here, is done using dif- ferent patterns 0 日 ogic. lfthe "l" exists as we identify it, as lntrinsically existent, 1 [ must be either one 、 our physical and mental components or separate from them. There are only these ハ vo possibilities with no op- tron in between. 圧 the "l" had an independent exrs- tence, it could not depend on the person's physical and mental components. Either the physical and mental components are the themselves, or the has no re- lation to them at all. lfthe physical and mental compo- nents are the "l," when they disintegrate at death, the I will also disintegrate. Similarly, just as a person leaves her body behind when she dies, the "I" will also be abandoned. Furthermore, if the "l" were truly one with the physical and mental components, as there are many components, there 、 be many selves within one person. If the self or "I ” of this 1 飛 and the nextlife have no relation between them, they would not be of the same continuum. The virtuous actlons done by the person of this life would not affectthe continuity of his next li . ln that case, whatever the person in the next life experiences 、 be Without cause or condition cause he 、 not have created the experiences him- self, since he iS not related tO the person Ofthe previous 1 飛 . ln this way you can see the faults of holding the Vie 、 that the person iS either truly one with or separate from his or her physical and mental components. That T H E AWA K E N I N G V I E W 0 F R E A L I T Y

fine tO listen [ 0 his or her teachings, for such contact will provide us with firsthand experience of the per- sons teaching ability. TO evaluate the person s personal practlce, we can examine hiS or her lifestyle. ・ We can also learn about the person 伝 om people who already know him or her. lt is also usefulto get to know the person in Other contexts. SO 、 you feel confident, you should then seek to adoptthat person as your spir- itual master. once you have accepted someone as your spiritual master, lt IS essential tO cultivate a proper sense Offaith and respect and abide by his or her spiritual instruc- t10ns. lt is important tO be clear that faith and respect do not imply blind faith. On the contrary, there should be a more informed approach. ln the sutras the Buddha explains that a disciple should abide by the spiritual master S vrrtuous lnstructions but disregard his or her un 、 Mholesome commands. The texts on dis- cipline Ⅱ ow a similar line, stating that you should not accept anything a teacher suggests that does not acco rd with the Dharma. criterion for deciding 、 Mhether a teacher's instruction IS acceptable or not is 、 Mhether it conforms [ 0 fundamental Buddhist principles. When it does, we should respectfully obey. Such a teaching is sure to produce POS1tive results.When a teacher's adVice con- tradicts Buddhist principles, we should hesitate and seek clarification. For instance, if an ordained person were told [ 0 drink alcohol, it would contradict the VO 、 ofordination. SO unless the teacher gave a special AV ′ 'A K E N I N G T H E M I N D , L I G H T E N I N G T H E H E A R T