The Meaning of Fundamental Mind, Clear Light, Expressed in Accordance with the Transmission of Conqueror Knowledge-Bearers: Vajra Matrix

By Mi-pam-gya-tso

With Commentary By Khetsun Sangpo Rinbochay

In the Introduction, Khetsun Sangpo Rinbochay expansive oral commentary is at the margin, and Mi-pam-gya- ndented. After that, the four chapters that form the body of the text are at the margin, and oral comments on difficult points are in footnotes.

Introduction

Countering Unfavorable Forces Because this is Secret Mantra, listeners should attain initiation beforehand. However, if the circumstances for this have not come together, it would be good, for the sake of avoiding interrupting factors, to recite the one-hundredsyllable mantra: tiøhîha, hyo me bhava, anurakto me bhava, sarva-siddhiô me prayachchha, sarva-karmasu cha me chittaô shr¦yam kuru, hÒô ha ha ha ha ho¯, bhagavan-sarva- - uñcha, - (Oô Vajrasattva,71 keep [your] pledge. Vajrasattva, reside [in me]. Make me firm. Make me satisfied. Fulfill me. Make me compassionate. Grant me all feats. Also, make my mind

virtuous in all actions. HÒô ha ha ha ha ho¯, all the supramundane victorious Ones-Gone-Thus, do not abandon phaî.) This should be done at least every day before going to sleep at night. Or, you could recite the mantra oô vajrasatva hÒô. In each of the syllables, there is one of the five lineages of Vajrasattva: oô is the white Vajrasattva vajra is the red Vajrasattva sa is the yellow Vajrasattva tva is the green Vajrasattva hÒô is the blue Vajrasattva.

Accumulating at least a hundred repetitions of this mantra every day helps in purifying karmic obstructions. Vajrasattva contains all of the hundred lineages. If you are able to recite this mantra for at least one rosary each day, whatever ill deeds you have accumulated will not increase in force. This is Secret Mantra and, unlike SÒtra, requires taking many pledges and so forth beforehand; I suggest the recitation of this mantra every day, especially if

you have not received initiation. Imagine a lotus on the top of your head, and upon it imagine Vajrasattva yab-yum;72 both male and female are white. Then imagine that at the heart of the male is a small flat moon disc, the size of a mustard seed, that has the hundred-syllable mantra around its edge. The letters of the mantra are standing upright, facing inward, circling around the edge. Take your recitation of oô vajrasatva hÒô as a prayer to it to activate it. Just as when a child cries to its mother, the mother powerlessly gives what is required, so here through the repetition of the mantra the

minds of Vajrasattva yab-yum are stirred. As you recite the mantra, this stirs them, and the letters set around the edge of the moon begin melting like butter put out in the sun, flowing from both male and female. The continuum of melted ambrosia comes down into the lotus on the top of your head, then into the stem of the lotus which is four finger widths inside your head. These drops gradually fill your entire body. As this nectar comes into your body,

imagine that all of your sicknesses, ill-deeds, obstructions, and so forth in the form of various types of black awful things go down to the bottom of your body and then out through the lower holes and hair pores. All of the evil spirits and so forth that are in you come out in the form of black scorpions, toads, and so on. Then imagine that all of the factors that would cause

interruption to you, bringing havoc to your life and so forth, manifest as a red bull, down nine stories below the earth, that has its mouth open upwards. Imagine that all beings to whom you owe a debt incurred over your beginningless lifetimes beings whose flesh you have used, debts of money that you have

not paid back, and so forth all of these beings gather in a great assembly with their mouths gaping upwards. Imagine that all of these awful black substances that have come out of your body scorpions, toads, and the like transform into whatever any of these beings want, such that they get whatever

they want. Then imagine that every being has a Vajrasattva yabyum on top of his or her head and is engaged in the same process of purifying ill-deeds and obstructions. For the purification of ill-deeds you need to have four powers. The first power is that of the basis, which in this case is Vajrasattva yab-

yum. The second power is contrition for ill-deeds you have done in the past: such and such terrible things; I will not do them any-deeds. The third power is that of restraint, feeling that in the future you will keep from any of these ill-deeds. The fourth, the power of an antidote, is the recitation in the

long form of the hundred-syllable mantra or, in the briefer form, of oô vajrasatva hÒô. Recite it one-pointedly within visualizing the purification of ill-deeds, sicknesses, and so forth in the complete form that I have just described. Do the recitation-visualization for one rosary length, that is, a hundred times, and then change your visualization. Imagine that Vajrasattva has become extremely your ill-deeds and obstructions are puri ajrasattva and consort dissolve into light and melt into you, whereby you become Vajrasattva. Imagine that there is a

blue hÒô at the center of your heart you do not need to visualize a moon disc as its base. There is a white oô in front, and on the right side is a red vajra, in the back a yellow sa, and on the left a green tva. Then imagine that all sentient beings have turned into Vajrasattvas and that the whole area

surrounding you is not your usual local area but like the Eastern Pure Land of Vajrasattva. With a loud voice recite oô vajrasatva hÒô. Then the syllable oô turns into light and dissolves into vajra; vajra turns into light and dissolves into sa; sa turns into light and dissolves into tva; tva turns into light and dissolves into hÒô. The syllable hÒô dissolves into space like breath disappearing on a mirror; imagine that your mind is undifferentiable from this great emptiness. Stay in this state of immaculate vacuity as long as you can, and then when some conceptuality begins to stir in your mind,

into Vajrasattva and establish all sentient beings in the state of Va Title of the Text I will give an explanation of fundamental mind based on a text by Mi-pam-gya-tso.73 Let us begin with his title, The Meaning of Fundamental Mind, Clear Light, Expressed in Accordance with the Transmission of Conqueror KnowledgeBearers: Vajra Matrix. a , unchanging. Fundamental mind,74 immutable mind,75 clear light,76 and noumenal mind77 are synonymous. The topic of this book is the meaning of the ultimate clear light.

Knowledge Bearers

Completeness,78 which was passed from Ga-rap-dor-je,79 Jam- -Ôhay-Ìyen,80 and Shr¦ Sinha to Vairochana and Padmasambhava, and thereby to Tibet. Among Padmaudents were King Tri-Ôong-day-«zen81 and his twenty-five ministers, and it continues down to present lamas through to you today. There has been a transmission from lama to student, lama to student, without break. The main topic Mi- ajra matrix

Homage First Mi-pam pays homage to Mañjushr¦ in Sanskrit: Namo gurumañjushr¦ye. There are three styles of preliminary homage: just in Sanskrit, in both Sanskrit and Tibetan, and just in Tibetan. This is an example of the first an expression in Sanskrit. If we associate the two languages, namo is homage or

bowing down (phyag tshal); guru is lama (bla ma); mañjushr¦ is Mañjushr¦ ( l); ye is to (la). Thus it mage to the guru You might wonder why a statement is made in an Indian language at the beginning of a Tibetan text. It is for the sake of gaining belief in the source of the teaching, that being in India. It is to indicate that texts composed in India and in Tibet do not differ in the quality of their topics expressed. Next he makes an expression of worship: Obeisance with homage by way of knowledge

In which the supreme lama and special favored deity Body of vajra essence that has come to be endowed with the glory of smoothness

Are undifferentiable within the fundamental great bliss, mind-emptiness. There are many ways of identifying a lama; here, because this is an occasion of Secret Mantra, it is the one who confers initiation. The word lama, or guru, is used only in Mantra, not in SÒtra. In the SÒtra system when vows are given, the reference is made to the abbot82 or to the master83 who confers the vows. Although you can find inSÒtra system, these are cases of the Mantric term being brought over to SÒtra. The syllable la (bla) in the term lama has the sense of that high place where all of the teaching of the Buddha abides; ma is to be understood as the mother of all these

mother. The Sanskrit term guru (literally to have the weight of good qualities. How is it that a person comes to be weighty? This person has taken upon himself or herself the burden of freeing all sentient beings from suffering. The lama does that. Among lamas there are the best, middling, and lower ones,

and here the reference is to the best, or supreme, lama. What is a yidam? A special favored deity. For those persons who cannot be tamed by a peaceful aspect, a lama appears in fierce aspect, this being a yidam. It is called a special deity because among the various yidam this is a deity that is particularly powerful with respect to taming trainees.

cloth, but here in this context it refers to the smoothness of not having any of the roughness of afflictive emotions. becomes free from suffering, cyclic existence, and so forth; the other type of glory is that of compassion it is a glory n indicating that the one being talked about here has attained this. vajra refers to immutability, the immutable noumenon, or final nature of phenom -emptiness way of the artifice84 the activity of knowledge on the one hand

and ignorance on the other that one is either a Buddha or a sentient being. With knowledge, one is a Buddha; with ignorance, one is a sentient being wandering in cyclic existence. noumenon, the nature of phenomena. ða-»ya 85 Tibetan spelling book says that emptiness is a ga nyug, that is, a nyug with

a ga prefix (gnyug ma) and he says that bamboo (snyug ma) is sa nyug it is spelled with a sa superscription. [The two words sound alike, but are spelled differently and have different meanings.] that is immutable because, unlike ordinary happiness that is present one moment and gone in another moment, this is unchanging inu nti mind as undifferentiable from the qualities enumerated above. From among types of homage, the best is with the view of reality, within knowledge.

is seeking the highest enlightenment of a Buddha through uprooting, or completely eradicating, the two obstructions the afflictive obstructions and the obstructions to omniscience. That is a general meaning of homage.

Here, in particular, one should understand the nature of indicates that one is bowing down to the feet the transmission of this view. Aim of the Composition Mi-pam continues: Concerning this, the essentials of all doors of doctrine of the Great and Small Vehicle inconceivably set forth in accordance with the dispositions, faculties, and thoughts of trainees in the ten directions and three times through the inconceivable secrecy of speech of the One-GoneThus are included in the two vehicles, cause and effect.

-GoneThus 86 alternatively could be One-Gone-to-Bliss. 87 e Secret Mantra. One could include Mantra within the sets of manifest knowledge of the SÒtra system from among the three scriptural divisions sets of discourses, sets of discipline, and sets of manifest knowl just Secret Mantra secrecy of speech of

the Ones-Gone-Thus is beyond the verbalization and realization of our mistaken minds. The ten directions are north, east, south, west, northeast, southeast, northwest, southwest, zenith, and nadir. The three times are past, present, and future. g trained by the Bud accordance with the dispositions, faculties, and thoughts of trainees; to those of low interest he set forth the low

vehicle; to those of middling interest he set forth the middling vehicle; and to those of great interest he set forth the Great Vehicle the 84,000 bundles of doctrine that Buddha taught. The essentials of all these doors of doctrine are included in the two vehicles, cause and effect. Furthermore, the thought

of the perfection of wisdom, which is the peak of all views of the causal path of the perfections, meets back to the sphere of reality88 devoid of all extremes of proliferation,89 emptiness endowed with all supreme aspects, known by oneself individually. The causal vehicle is the vehicle of the path of the perfections the six perfections of giving, ethics, patience, effort, concentration, and wisdom. The peak of all of the views of the path of the

perfections, that is, of the causal vehicle, is the thought of the perfection of wisdom. Then Mi-pam speaks of that which is devoid of all of the extremes of proliferation. One way of taking proliferation is set forth at the beginning of Någår Treatise on the Middle, when he speaks of that which is free from the eight proliferations production, cessation, annihilation, permanence, coming, going, sameness, and difference. Also Chandrak¦rt Sup speaks of a mode of

subsistence free from the proliferations of the four extremes of production production from self, production from other, production from both self and other, and causeless production. The Middle Way view is called a view having no assertions, devoid of all such extremes. As Någårjuna says in his Refutation of Objections,90 rtions What is this view devoid of all assertions? It is the sphere of the nature of phenomena, the sphere of reality. This sphere of reality is identified as emptiness endowed

with all supreme aspects. Because it is free from all assertions of all directions of north, south, east, west, and so forth it is emptiness, but it is endowed with the supreme of all aspects. It is understood individually by oneself. , Råhula, made a praise of the mother, the perfection of wisdom, he called it inconceivable, unfabricated, the perfection of wisdom, unproduced, unceasing, the entity of space itself, that which is realized individually by oneself, the perfection of pristine wisdom. And because all Buddhas of the three times past, present, and future are born from it, he paid obeisance to the mother of the Buddhas of the three times having all of these quali Ornament for Clear Realization describes emptiness as the mother of all Buddhas because

if persons realize emptiness, they can become Buddhas, and if they do not realize emptiness, there is no way at all to become a Buddha. That is the reason why the perfection of wisdom is treated as the mother of all Buddhas. Just as a river meets back to, or derives from, a snow mountain, so the view derives from this which is realized individually. The finality of the thought of all profound, resultant mantric tantras meets back to this which is described in

the Compendium of the Thought of the SÒtras91 clear light, the suchness of Secret Mantra The Mantra system is profound in that it is deep and cannot to be understood immediately. The reason why Mantra is called resultant, the effect, is that whereas SÒtra paths work on the causes of enlightenment, Mantra paths are based on the effect. With respect to the tantras, there are many different ways of enumerating them 64,000 tantras and so forth and Mi-pam is about to talk about the ultimate thought of all the tantras. There are two Compendium of the Thought of the

SÒtras, one related with the Mind-Only School and one related with the Great Completeness. This is the one from the Great Completeness. As long as you cannot make a difference between mistaken mind and unmistaken mind, you cannot understand anything that is said here. What are we accustomed to? Night and day, during the six periods of an entire day, what we are accustomed to is mistaken mind. In all of our activities the agents and objects with which we are

involved every day it is as if the mind of reality, the reality of the unmistaken mind, is dormant, and we are engaging in activities from within mistaken mind. Performing all of these actions, or works, are the six main consciousnesses and fifty-one mental factors. Who indicated that these are mistaken minds? Buddha said in the Descent into Laêkå SÒtra,92 an exag form realm, and formless realm. Therefore, beginners initially learn about the

conventionalities and then use those conventionalities as means for ascending to the higher level of the ultimate like the steps of stairs. If you do not train originally very finely in the presentations of conventional phenomena, then when you come to the difficult level of the ultimate, you cannot understand anything. When you become very skilled in conventional phenomena, then you can, through gradual changes in perspective, quickly understand the

ultimate. This is why Buddha, upon becoming enlightened, first taught the four noble truths and then taught the Great Vehicle. If he had taught the doctrines of the Great Vehicle in the beginning, no one would have understood. Since almost all of the things we are doing and all of what we are thinking are bogged down in mistaken mind, we have to study conventional mistaken mind, and then, when we turn to the ultimate, we can give up entirely all of

these activities lodged in the mistaken mind. The situation of our mind now is that we are so used to mistaken mind that we cannot understand what ultimate mind is. You might think that if you gave up all of these activities of mistaken mind, you would become like a dead body. Hence, we instruct a person who retreats to a solitary place on a mountain to cultivate this view of the Great Completeness to think in the beginning that it probably would be that if you

cut off all of the activities of the mistaken mind you would end up being just like a dead body. After considering this for a while, the person comes to think that it could not be that the Supramundane Victor Buddha set forth something that was just like a dead body; there must be something beyond that, there must be an unmistaken reality. At that point the person begins seeking unmistaken reality. How is it that mistaken mind overwhelms the unmistaken

mind, unmistaken reality? To give an example, during the day when the sun is shining one does not see any stars and thus one would think that there are no stars at all, that they just plain do not exist. Just so, afflictive emotions shine so brightly and are so powerful that it is as if unmistaken reality, unmistaken mind, does not exist at all. When you seek out this unmistaken mind from within, you come to understand that there is an unmistaken mind a

reality of the mind that does not die, that does not scurry after pleasure and pain. This mind that does not follow after pleasure and pain has a mode of being that is emptiness but not an emptiness in the sense of an empty house or an empty vessel; rather, it is endowed with the inconceivable self-effulgence93 of unmistaken reality, of pristine wisdom. When you search for this that is beyond mistaken mind, mistaken mind just stops; gradually like dawn there comes to be a time when pristine wisdom manifests a little.

With the beginning of dawn there is not just darkness but some light, and so it is when the self-effulgence, the self-color, the self-nature of the pristine wisdom shows itself a little; one generates a suspicion that there is wisdom beyond mistaken mind. As Åryadeva nerate doubt thinking that there might be such a reality, cyclic existence 94 How does cyclic existence come to be torn to tatters, or wrecked, made into a mess by doubt? For instance, if

a table is wrecked, broken up, it cannot perform the function of a table; just so, when the self-effulgence of unmistaken pristine wisdom begins to dawn with this state of doubt, cyclic existence is wrecked and torn to tatters. This mandala, this sphere, of the mind that is naturally clear light is

suchness, only set forth in Secret Mantra and thus a distinguishing feature of Secret Mantra. Because whether one is caught in cyclic existence or not depends upon being able to differentiate between mistaken mind and unmistaken mind, great emphasis is put on this point, and that is why I have explained it in some detail. Therefore wise scholars (who, having completed vast hearing, thinking, and meditating, generated ascertaining knowledge from proper explanation through scriptures and reasonings by those perceiving the definitive meaning) or yogis (who, though they are not endowed with the great wisdom

of having trained in hearing and thinking, generated conviction in accordance with having been introduced well to basic mind by a lama who, endowed with experience of the quintessential instructions, has totally mastered the essentials of basic mind, pristine wisdom) will not fall from the essentials of the teaching with respect to the meaning of those two.

mind itself, and the clear light of Secret Mantra. In order to realize those two, it is necessary to engage in the beginning in vast hearing, then in the middle in vast thinking, and in the end in vast meditation. When you have brought vast hearing, thinking, and meditation to completion, you become a wise person. When Buddha taught, he set forth sÒtras requiring interpretation for those persons who were not capable at that time of understanding the

definitive Great Vehicle teachings, gradually leading them that way, pements endowed with the blessings n rigs with the second suffix sa) is to be understood as rational reasoning. Although scribes have used different spellings and thus created some confusion, the word that means reasoning must have the secondary suffix (rigs pa), whereas when we speak about knowledge, basic mind, or basic knowledge (rig pa) of the unmistaken mind, it has no second

suffix sa. One generates ascertaining knowledge from proper explanations, these explanations being by way of blessed statements and reasoning. you choose either the first way or the second way. Either in the mode of a great scholar you bring to full development hearing, thinking, and meditating, or even if you do not possess the great wisdom of having trained fully in hearing and thinking, you manifest from within in the manner of a great meditator the

meaning of the reality of unmistaken mind means that through gradually becoming accustomed to the reality of unmistaken mind, to emptiness, the person becomes fully enlightened such that realization is there from within. If you do not have a lama with experience such that he or she has mastery penetrating

enlightenment, it is very difficult. The lama should be someone who through becoming accustomed to the reality of unmistaken mind has become enlightened. Because the lama has experience, the lama can introduce and identify for the student how to meditate so that basic mind will become manifest. How does the lama introduce the student to reality? There are three phases basis, path, and fruit. First, the lama introduces the student to the basis, the mind of clear light, the reality of unmistaken mind. At this time you must generate valid belief in the clear light karmic obstructions, the karmic background, due to which there are varieties among students some able to generate conviction, some not, as well as varieties in the strength of belief and so forth. In

any case, you must develop conviction to the level of valid cognition, realizing that since beginningless time all of your activities have been bogged down in mistakenness. When you generate conviction in the reality of unmistaken mind to the level of valid cognition, you become a yogi, one who has arrived at the natural state of reality. Yogis who have identified their own face, their own basic entity, will not stray from the essentials of the teaching.

Otherwise, as sÒtras and tantras prophesy, there are many who, having abandoned the profound meaning through dry analysis that seems so plentiful and so good, distribute quasi-doctrine for material gain, leading those of low merit and small intelligence on a perverse path at this time of the end of the era. If you abandon the reality of unmistaken mind and engage in many dry analyses that seem to you to be so good, so good, and are so multitudinous, so multitudinous, having no end, nothing will come of it. Once you become totally

absorbed just in conventional verbiage, it is as if the profound ultimate reality has dried up. Then you use this quasi-religious doctrine as a means of gathering money, of getting things. Such people of small mind and low merit at this degenerate time when the five degeneracies have set in, lead other

people on a mistaken path, not directing them in the least to ultimate reality. This happens frequently; many people have ended up this way. Buddha prophesied in sÒtras and in tantras that such would happen in the future that there would be a time when people of low mind would sell religious doctrines in order to gain money. [Hence] those of good lot should seek the profound thought of the transmission of Conqueror Knowledge-Bearers with profound intelligence endowed with the four reliances. Buddha spoke of four reliances: 1. Rely not on the person, but on the doctrine. 2. Within the doctrine, rely

not on the words, but on the meaning. 3. Within the meaning, rely not on interpretable meanings, but on the definitive meaning. 4. Within the definitive meaning, rely not on mere consciousness, but on pristine wisdom. People of good fortune should seek out the profound thought of the transmission of the Conqueror KnowledgeBearers with profound intelligence endowed with these four reliances. If you do not understand it right away, you should keep working and working at it with such profound intelligence. It is not suitable to get involved with what is pro

pounded with superficial logic, but due to the era, humans are weak in wisdom and effort; their merit and lot are small; virtuous spiritual guides who have perceived the ultimate are few; those who propound all sorts of conceptual fabrications are many; also the doctrine, having been polluted with their own mind, has become weaker and weaker like milk watered down to market, such that quasi-doctrines are very plentiful at this time of the degeneration of the

teaching. Still, it is rare for anyone to know this. The word logic (rtog ge) has two basic meanings, one is correct logic, and the other is wrong logic, but here the reference is to those who pay attention just to logic, without getting at the meaning. (zol ma) also means deceit; it refers to just making

up seemingly logical vocabulary and arguments that are not in the great treatises. Though it is not suitable to get involved with what is propounded with deceitful logic, due to the time, that is, due to the fact that we are in the era of the five degenerations, humans have little wisdom and little effort,

and therefore are drawn into deceitful logic. If you have great merit, you have the lot of being able to absorb much doctrine, but if you have little merit, you have the lot of being able to absorb only a little doctrine. Also, nowadays there are few virtuous spiritual guides who perceive the ultimate,

the mode of subsistence of phenomena. And many people just make up things to say from their imagination, and end up just blabbing, fabricating their own vocabulary and polluting the doctrine with their own perspective, unable to leave the doctrines just as they are. For instance, when milk is sold, sellers often mix in water, making it very weak, and in the same way the doctrines have become weak with admixtures. This is a time

when the doctrine has degenerated, like milk mixed with water, and thus there are many propounding quasidoctrines, but there are very few who practice the real thing. At such a time it is rare to find anyone who knows the situation. Aside from those endowed with the best of accumulations of the collections

[of merit and wisdom], ordinary beings cannot even understand the profound meanings. Even those who gain understanding from deliberate earnest analysis and investigation are few. The profound meanings of Mantra are to be realized by those who have great accumulations of the collections of merit and wisdom. Aside from people who have the highest level of the accumulations of merit and wisdom, ordinary people cannot even understand these doctrines. And there

are only a few who are able to gain understanding from analyzing and investigating intensely and earnestly. At such a time when, despite the fact that the

modes of appearance to the ordinary conceptual awarenesses of the short-sighted are contradictory with the innermost profound meaning, [[[people]]] voluntarily

take up [these superficial, false modes of appearance] with enthusiasm like a dog coming upon lungs card the profound, saying, such a time the very profound is difficult to fathom. Also, engagement of the mind in the essentials of the path so meaningful when understood is very rare. People like us, who only know what is nearby them and do

sighted tshur mthong), those with limited sight. The mode of appearance to our ordinary conceptual awarenesses is contradictory with the innermost profound meaning; and since we are limited to this superficial level, we are in a state of contradiction with the more profound. We immediately feel that this is

all there is that the superficial is all that exists. When a dog comes upon lungs, it considers them to be so delicious it wants immediately to gobble them up; just the same, when we meet with any superficial teaching, whatever it is, we voluntarily sink ourselves into it or grab on to it. We discard the

more profound, thinking that it is something unknowable. During such a era when we have discarded the more profound in favor of the more superficial,

indeed the profound is extremely difficult to plumb. When the profound is understood, it is very meaningful, but we live at a time when those who engage

their minds in the essentials of the path, which when realized are very meaningful, are very rare. Therefore, I do not see much purpose in writing about

this, but with the good intention that even at the end of an era it might help a few persons a bit, I will speak a little about central points concerning

profound meanings very difficult to understand that are a little clear to my mind due to the kindness of excellent lamas and profound scriptures. Mi-pam-gya-tso is saying: I do not see much purpose in writing about such profundity; however, I think that at this time at the end of an era there definitely

will be a few who will want to hear about such topics, and thus I think it might help. With this beneficial attitude, I will write about these profound meanings extremely difficult to understand. Through the kindness and force of the excellent

lamas and the profound scriptures by the former great Conquerors, I will talk briefly about central meanings that appear somewhat clearly to my mind. The central meanings are the basis, path, and fruit, and here I will talk about the basis.

The Basal Clear Light

About this, just this original (ye thog) basal clear light, the primordial (gdod ma) mode of subsistence, is the final reality of all phenomena. All appearances of cyclic existence and nirvåòa shine forth from within it, and when they shine forth, there is not a single phenomenon that is other than

continuously abiding in it. Ye has the sense of original, and thog ma means first, so the reference here is to the original basal clear light. The basis, here in the system of the Great Completeness, is not just a non-existence, or a mere negative, but is the clear light that is the primordial subsistence of

things. It is the final reality of all phenomena. From within the basal clear light, all appearances of cyclic existence and nirvåòa shine forth. And when they shine forth from within the mind of clear light, they do not become separate from it but are like the effulgence of that mind of clear light. Thus

there is no phenomenon other than ones that remain abiding within that mind of clear light when it shines forth. Since this is the final place of release, it is called body of attributes that is the ultimate mode of subsistence ntitious obstructions as well as their predispositions are nature body endowed

with the the supreme vehicle. Because this basal mind of clear light is the final place of body of attributes that is the ultimate mode of subsistence he body of attributes is complete within this basal mind of clear light. Thus, what defiles it and prevents its manifestation? An example of this situation is the sun and the clouds: the sun is the basal mind of clear light, and the clouds are our own adventitious and temporary predispositions blocking

realization, or manifestation, of the sun. When we are unable to see the sun, we think that only clouds exist; just so, due to our predispositions we think

that those things that come forth from these predispositions are all that there is. When these adventitious predispositions and obstructions finally become purified, this basal mind of clear light nature body endowed with the two purically free from defilements but also is the purity of being free from

adventitious defilements. It is the final true cessation taught in the supreme vehicle. The supreme vehicle is the Vajra Vehicle and, within that, the Great Completeness. In that foundation, mistake and release are nondual. Just that foundation is the essential purity95 from the viewpoint of being without any [[[Wikipedia:conceptual|conceptual]] and dualistic] proliferations and is spontaneity96 in that it is not a mere emptiness like space but is self-luminous without partiality,

not limited in its vastness, and not fallen into limitation. Since it is the source of all appearances of cyclic existence and nirvåòa, it is called all-

pervasive compassion. Within that basis, that is to say, within that basal body of attributes, since it is primordially buddhafied, there is no such thing as error, and there is no such thing as release.

Within that basis, error and release are non-dual, and thus it is the great natural equality. Just that basis the basal body of attributes of the mind of clear light is the essential purity from the viewpoint of its being totally without any dualistic and conceptual proliferation. It is not just a mere

emptiness like space or like an empty house, but has a self-arisen spontaneous nature of self-illumination. It is not partial, not limited anywhere in its

extent not ruptured due to being too vast not fallen to any extreme. Being the source of all appearances of cyclic existence and nirvåòa, it is the place

from which they arise. Because it pervades everything right through Buddhahood, it is called all-pervasive compassion. In the doctrinal vocabulary of the tantras of the Great Completeness, it is the triply endowed pristine wisdom residing as the basis. Similarly, in the sÒ 97 and 98 from the viewpoint of

being without observation of marks and being devoid of all aspects of prolif -arisen pristine wisdom selfeffulgence,99 and ndamental mind 100 ndamental cognition 101 102 -vajra 103 space-vajra pervading space 104 and so forth due to not changing in any aspect. In the tantras of the Great Completeness, it

is said to be endowed with the three pristine wisdoms residing as the basis. The three are the mirror-like wisdom, the wisdom of the sphere of reality, and the wisdom of individual realiza , here Mi-pam-gya-tso mentions only three because he is speaking about the clear light that is the basis, rather than when

manifested at Buddhahood as the five wisdoms. The remaining two, the wisdom of equality and the wisdom of the accomplishment of activities, are attained with Buddhahood and are endowed with the two purities natural purity and purity of adventitious defilements. In the sÒ emptiness eing without observation

of any marks, being devoid of all aspects of proliferation, such as production, cessation, coming, going, and so forth, as mentioned at the beginning of Någår Treatise on the Middle, and for the i evoid of all marks and signs, which are like smoke being the sign indicating the presence of fire. From its

factor of luminous self-effulgence, it is called -arisen pristine wisdom nd mind of clear utability, it is called -vajra change. The mind-vajra pervades wherever space is present, and thus this basal mind of clear light is called

ndowed with the space-vajra pervading space Though it is taught with such synonyms, all of them are not different in fact from only the nondual sphere of reality and pristine wisdom, the noumenon of the mind, the ultimate mode of subsistence, the vajra-like mind of enlightenment it of empty sphere but as emptiness endowed with all supreme aspects, without any conjunction with or disjunction from luminosity. Though it is called -arisen m

pounded awareness endowed with marks, a subject realizing emptiness within a division of object and subject but as having a luminous nature without even a particle of any mark to be designated as compounded. The different names come by way of emphasizing different qualities. Though it is taught with various terms, all of them are not different in fact from only the vajra-like mind of enlightenment, the noumenon of the mind, or ultimate mode of subsistence, the

non-duality of the sphere of reality and pristine wisdom. Although there are these many different names, their meanings do not exist as separate factualities; it is just this vajra-like ultimate mind of enlightenment, the mode of subsistence of things. nderstood as just a mere empty sphere. Rather, it is luminous. The sphere does not come together with luminosity or separate from luminosity, but is beyond coming together with anything and separating

from anything. It is emptiness endowed with all supreme aspects. It -arisen pristine wisdom some kind of subject that is the counterpart of an object not a mere awareness that is a subject realizing emptiness from within a division into subject and object. It is immutable mind, not to be confused with

compounded mind having marks. Although it has a luminous nature, it does not have even a particle of a mark that is to be designated as compounded; it is uncompounded. Within the Great Completeness, in the mind-class and so forth e mind of enlightenment the expanse-class and so forth it is called ; in the quintessentialinstruction-class it the Perfection of Wisdom SÒtras it is called

and in most mantric tantras it ements there are different names due to the force of certain needs, but the meaning to be understood is the union of

basic knowledge and emptiness, the actual pristine wisdom that is what is being characterized, the mode of subsistence of all phenomena. Hence, it is the primordial innate pristine wisdom. In the Great Completeness there are three classes of teachings mind-class, expanse-class, and quintessentialinstruction-

class. In the mindenlightenment the expanse-class, reality ntial instruction -arisen pristine wisdom the Perfection of Wisdom texts the perfection of wisdom being the mother that gives rise to all Buddhas it is called , it is called stances, needs, purposes, and intentions there are different names, but

when you come down to it, what is to be understood is a union of basic knowledge and emptiness, the actual pristine wisdom; this is what is being characterized. Since it is the final mode of subsistence of all phenomena, it is the primordial innate pristine wisdom. Not being produced through the

fluctuations of the predispositions of the three appearances, it is naturally flowing noumenon.105 Because of being devoid in all ways from the pangs of suffering of these mutations, it is designated great bliss. There are many different identifications of the three appearances. In texts on death, intermediate state, and rebirth, the three appearances are identified as appearance, increase, and near-attainment the minds of vivid white

appearance, vivid red or orange increase of appearance, and vivid black near-attainment, called the minds of white, red, and black appearance. In the vocabulary of the ða-»ya system, the three appearances are identified as 1) impure appearance, 2) visionary appearance, and 3) pure appearance. Applying

this division of three appearances to the basis, path, and fruit, the basis is the impure appearances that you are currently perceiving. Then, when you endeavor at the spiritual path and so forth, there are visionary appearances. When you advance and have purified the visionary appearances, there is pure appearance of the state of the effect in which everything is limitless purity these being natural appearances that come from meditating on emptiness. As

long as you have not identified actual pristine wisdom, all cases of mental imputations and apprehensions in which you have a sense of: a subject that is a compounded awareness and an object that is uncompounded mere emptiness a changeable compounded bliss a similar [that is to say, changeable and

compounded] sense of clarity and so forth and a sense of not conceptualizing anything, you have not gone even in the direction of the definitive meaning, and consequently need to rely on the quintessential instructions of an excellent lama. Dry analysis without the orally transmitted quintessential

instructions is, with respect to this topic [of the fundamental reality], like the blind looking at the sun. If you remain with stale analysis, you are like a blind person trying to look at the sun.

(That concludes Khetsun Sangpo Rinbochay expansive commentary on the Introduction. Hereafter, Mi-pam-gya-tso with comments by Khetsun Sangpo Rinbochay in footnotes