To establish the assertion of there being pure and impure external objects is actually very difficult for us.
Basically, there are four tiers of valid cognitions that determine whether an assertion can be established:
1. Conventional designation of names
2. Ultimate truth
3. Yogic direct perception
4. The omniscience of a Buddha
To establish an assertion is like coursing through a trail of bullet fire, one must pass through all kinds of strict inquisitions and examinations by valid cognition, which is extremely difficult.
For example: seeing a rope as a snake. By conventional designation, one can refute the establishment of the snake, as there is no snake in the rope.
Seeing a pinch of hair as a rope: by ultimate truth, one can refute the establishment of the rope, as there is no rope existing in a pinch of hair.
A rope, by direct yogic perception, can be established as a magnetizing lasso of lotus flowers. By the omniscience of a Buddha, this rope is Amoghapāśa.
Furthermore, taking a buffalo as another example, for a butcher, it is an animal that can be killed for meat. For meat eaters, it can be established as tasty food. For a bodhisattva, it was his parent in a past life. For a yogi, it is a yidam deity. For a Buddha, it is established as Yamāntaka.
Therefore, our various presumed assertions of “this is true” and “this is false”, are, in fact, very difficult to establish.
If one can analyze like this clearly, one can then easily understand the meanings of the Buddha’s second and third turnings of the wheel of Dharma, as well as the meanings of Madhyamaka and Yogācāra.
Otherwise, if one doesn’t even clearly understand the basis for the views of the scholars in one’s own school, as well as the imagined ideas of modern minds, one will end up becoming a blind follower.
There are those who simply interpret and explain the meaning of words in a shastra a few times, or keep a mediocre winning record in shedra debates, who then proclaim themselves as sages or scholars, and are even so-called by others as well. For me, they are just frogs sitting at the bottom of a well.
Therefore, I urge everyone to, please, carefully observe and examine. Please only publish your personal assertions after thorough consideration. Do not act out rashly.
Having heard the Dharma for many years,
I haven’t the experience of a seasoned practitioner.
Unable to show prosody that pleases the wise,
In lifelong study of the result, my legacy will linger on.
Of the eight Dharma lineages in the snowy land,
Any one, in depth, will make a Buddha.
Chanced upon me is a birth in the Nyingma,
The teachings of The Ocean-Born I joyfully uphold.
Of the teachings of others, discrimination,
Criticism, and slander I avoid like poison.
Applying the sūtras like they are pith instructions,
I tame my own mind and relish the rest of my days.
Your humble upāsaka,
Tenzin Chokyi Gyaltsen
a.k.a Palyul Choktrul
Urgyen Translation DreamStudio
2020/11/29
Tibeten version ཚད་གྲུབ་ཀྱི་རྣམ་བཞག་སྒྲོན་སྐར་ཟླ་ཉིཞེས་བྱ་བ་བཞུགས།
Chinese version 清淨與不清淨
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