Manual of Prajna Paramita - Reading Two: The Wish for Enlightenment
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From the presentation on The Wish for Enlightenment found in the Overview of the Perfection of Wisdom, by Kedrup Tenpa Dargye (1493-1568):
Here we will discuss the lines of the root text which begin with “The wish for enlightenment is, for the benefit of others…” First we will relate this concept to the original texts, and then we will analyze it in detail.
Here is the first. We find the following lines in sutra:
Sharibu, those who wish to gain total enlightenment, a knowledge of every kind of thing, must train themselves in the perfection of wisdom. Those who wish this, and that, must train themselves in the wisdom perfection.
The root text and commentary include other lines that begin with “The wish for enlightenment is” and continue up to “the twenty-two.” The function of these latter sections is to clarify the hidden meaning of the words of the sutra, including as it does the essential nature of the wish for enlightenment.
As such, we can understand the definition of the wish for enlightenment as “The wish to achieve total enlightenment for the benefit of others.”
Here is the section in which we present our own position. The definition of the greater way’s wish for enlightenment is as follows.
First, it is that main mental awareness belonging to the greater way, which is focussed on achieving total enlightenment for the benefit of others, and which is matched with a state of mind that is associated with it: the aspiration to achieve total enlightenment.
Secondly, it is a knowledge belonging to the greater way, which acts as a door for entering the greater way (or is something of the type), and which is included into the activity side of the standard division into the two of “view” and “activity.”
Here next are the divisions of this wish. Nominally, the wish can be divided into the apparent wish for enlightenment and the ultimate wish for enlightenment. In essence, it can be divided into the wish of prayer and the wish of engagement. In terms of level, it can be divided into the four types that begin with “the wish that acts out of belief.” In terms of how the wish is developed, there are three types, starting with the “king’s wish.”
See also
- Manual of Prajna Paramita - Reading One: The Three Kinds of Refuge
- Manual of Prajna Paramita - Reading Two: The Wish for Enlightenment
- Manual of Prajna Paramita - Reading Three: What is Nirvana?
- Manual of Prajna Paramita - Reading Four: The Object We Deny
- Manual of Prajna Paramita - Reading Five: The Proofs for Emptiness
- Manual of Prajna Paramita - Reading Six: Who is Maitreya?
- Manual of Prajna Paramita - CLASS NOTES