Jikan wrote:Vajrasvapna wrote:
Good quote. To complement, the consciousness of all beings is equal to this state, but ordinary beings have no awareness of this nature, while Bodhisattvas have different levels of awareness.
Indeed. I direct our friend garudha to the
Srimaladevi Sutra for a straightforward exposition on this topic ^^^. There are others, of course
Actually I find this sutra confusing.
Firstly; It says Arhats and Pratyekabuddhas think, 'The duty is accomplished.'
Then it says in the Arhats and Pratyekabuddhas there are still uneliminated defilements as well as rebirth defilements.
Finally it says the three vehicles are counted as one vehicle (ekayana). By realizing the 'one vehicle' one attains the incomparable rightly completed enlightenment.
So, athough Arhats and Pratyekabuddhas have incomparable rightly completed enlightenment, there are still uneliminated defilements ?
I wonder if this "nescience entrenchment" is not the same root of consciousness (ignorance) that Shakyamuni cut, and, the same knot mentioned by Jigme Lingpa ?
What exactly is this "nescience entrenchment" ?
Approaching the Great Perfection: Simultaneous and Gradual Methods of Dzogchen Practice in the Longchen Nyingtig wrote:
This handprint of untying the knot of the central channel was made after having examined the dynamic energy of gnosis in the vast expanse.
I think most readers would presume "To know dharmakaya mind and thus dharmadhātu is surely to have
already cleared all defilements" but this sutra suggests otherwise. (note I do not wish to spark a technical discussion of dharmakaya vs dharmadhātu!!!)
@
http://www.abuddhistlibrary.com/Buddhis ... 0Sutra.htm
Arhats and Pratyekabuddhas think, 'The duty is accomplished.'
"Lord, they think, 'There is nothing to be known beyond this.' It is because the Arhats and Pratyekabuddhas have gained control over the defilements to be eliminated by the Arhat as well as control over the reconnections in samsara, that it occurs to them, 'There is nothing to be known beyond this.' However, the person who thinks, 'There is nothing to be known beyond this,' has neither eliminated all defilements nor avoided all rebirth. Why is that? Because, Lord, in the Arhats and Pratyekabuddhas there are still uneliminated defilements as well as rebirth defilements that have not been searched out.
That being the case, the nescience entrenchment is the greatest power; it is also called 'static kind in attraction to [supramundane] gestation.'
It has cohabited a long time with the four defilements. It cannot be erased by the knowledge of the Disciples and the Self-Enlightened. It is destroyed only by the enlightenment wisdom of the Tathagatas.
"Lord, the Arhats and Pratyekabuddhas overcame the dangers of samsara and promptly experienced the pleasure of liberation, rightly observing, 'Thus I have been liberated from the dangers of samsara and will not again experience the sufferings of samsara.' The Arhats and the Pratyekabuddhas, having realized, 'There is nothing to be known beyond this,' decided that they were in the supreme Nirvana stage of the arrested breath. Furthermore, when they so realized, they were subjects (dharmin) undeceived regarding that stage. Besides, they insisted on thinking, 'Without dependence on another, I have attained the [Nirvana] stage with remainder; I am certainly in the incomparable rightly completed enlightenment.'
"Why is that so? Because the vehicles of the Disciples and the Self-Enlightened ones are included in the Great Vehicle. Lord, 'Great Vehicle' is an expression for Buddha Vehicle. In that way, the three vehicles are counted as one vehicle (ekayana). By realizing the 'one vehicle' one attains the incomparable rightly completed enlightenment. Lord, 'incomparable rightly completed enlightenment' is an expression for the Nirvana-realm. 'Nirvana-realm' is an expression for the Dharmakaya of the Tathagata. The ultimate realization of the Dharmakaya is the One Vehicle. Lord, the Tathagata is not one thing, and the Dharmakaya something else, but the Tathagata is himself the Dharmakaya. The ultimate realization of the Dharmakaya is the ultimate of the One Vehicle. Lord, 'ultimate of the One Vehicle' is an expression for the absoluteness of the One Vehicle.