Lecture No. 0086
Global Lamrim II
Lecture No. 0086
Tape no. 2B 13:42 ~ 15:20
Date: 2019/01/24 ~ 01/27
Outline: Foundation
Topic: Veneration at the beginning of commentary
Vol. 1 of Master’s discourse handbook P56-LL4 ~ P57-L6
Prior to listening to Lamrim teaching, everyone, please examine your mental stream and check if you are well prepared to listen to the teaching. In fact, how to listen to the teaching is a very important training. Regarding the section [in Lamrim chapter 3, v.1 p.56] of contemplating the benefits of listening to the teachings, for us who listen to the teaching on a regular basis would find that the literal understanding of the text is no longer that incomprehensible. However, it doesn’t mean we have already habituated the act of checking our mental stream], or even habitually contemplate the benefits of listening to the teaching prior to each listening. [Therefore, we] should examine ourselves to check if such habit has been developed. [00′47″]
The moment we start to focus on contemplating the benefits of listening to the teaching, our minds would shift away from mundane concerns to focus on the benefits of Dharma teachings in our life. Once we shift our focus to the benefits of Dharma teaching towards our lives, then we would introspect ourselves: why do we need the teaching? What exact effect does the teaching have on our lives in terms of eliminating suffering and attaining happiness? It would work best if such reflection can transform our mind, and touch our hearts. If (we are) constantly touched by contemplating the benefits of listening to the teaching, then our mind would develop a very strong yearning for the teaching. Such strong yearning, as some describe it, is like a person with unbearable thirst, who is in desperate need of water to quench one’s thirst. [01′42″]
Amid our busy daily engagements, how to carry out profound observation and in-depth contemplation earnestly, and to establish the imprint of the advantage of listening to Dharma in our mental stream may require everyone’s persistent examination and practice. We have to adjust our mental attitude every time – to liberate countless sentient beings from the suffering of cyclic existence, and even for them to attain the true happiness, namely, free from any suffering, we must aspire to achieve Buddhahood. It is for such a purpose that we are here to study Lamrim. [02′19″]
Great! If everyone has adjusted their mental momentum, then today our study of [Master’s commentary] shall be: I bow to Dipamkara [Atisha], bearer of the treasury of instructions that comprises the key points, unmistaken and complete, of the paths of the profound view and vast deeds, transmitted well from those two great trailblazers. [02′38″]
[2B 13:42 ~ 15:20]
I bow to Dipamkara [Atisha], bearer of the treasury of instructions That comprises the key points, unmistaken and complete, Of the paths of the profound view and vast deeds, Transmitted well from those two great trailblazers. [v.1 p.33]
As the lineage was passed down, there is another great teacher. This great teacher was called Atisha! Atisha is a respectful name in Tibetan. He was an Indian. That time in India was equivalent to the early Song dynasty in China. His time was between Song-Tai-Zong, the second emperor of the Song dynasty, and Song-Ren Zong (around AD 900 to 1000 [982-1054]). This great scholar was a prince in East India. From a very young age, he had the yearning for becoming a monk; he just wanted to be ordained, an absolutely brilliant boy. You should take a good look at the book [the biography of Atisha] that I gave you. While he was merely a teenager, only in his teens, he studied a bit of conventional Science of Logic. Well, this Science of Logic is very difficult for us. However, as a teenager, he heard it just once and was able to apply the Buddhist Science of Logic reasoning in debate. He even won over the most prominent scholar at the time in a debate. Wow! Fabulous! In the future, if you really advance into the more profound study, you will all have the opportunity to learn the Buddhist Science of Logic. You must realize that this Buddhist Science of Logic is extremely difficult to learn. This is to show how brilliant Master Atisha was. [04′18″]
Very well! These verses introduce another excellent teacher, Master Atisha to us. Perhaps, while most of the senior students who have studied Lamrim for longer time are already very familiar with Master Atisha, the newer students may not. Master Atisha is [not only] an important great master in our lineage but also a great master we are deeply indebted to for his profound kindness. A prince from East India, he was exceptionally bright from a young age. Master gave an example [to show how brilliant he was]: while he was still a teenager, Master Atisha had won over the most prominent scholar in a debate. Understandably, he was an extremely brilliant person. [05′06″]
Speaking of debate, everyone would think of the study of Pointing the Way to Reasoning- Compendium of Debates! Those who have taken this course did experience at the beginning of study, some find themselves hitting a snag, some feel that they have fallen into pitch darkness; sometimes they would feel as if they know nothing at all. What they perceive as having a complete understanding might turn out to be [fundamentally] questionable when challenged by other debaters. Some who originally think themselves to be clever might find themselves extremely dumb when they encounter difficulty in learning the Pointing the Way to Reasoning- Compendium of Debates, and they could lose confidence in themselves. To struggle through the period of being in total darkness and quandary, to regain the confidence and gradually build up with the skills of reasoning and debating at the forum, it takes tremendous effort to become proficient in debating field! [06′06″]
Master said, “this Science of Logic for us is very difficult. However, as a teenager, he heard it just once and he was able to apply the Buddhist Science of Logic reasoning in debate. He even won over the most prominent scholar at the time in a debate.” It mentions in the biography of Master Atisha that at the age of 15, just by listening to the teaching of the Nyayabinduprakarana once, he won over the most prominent non-Buddhist scholar at that time in a debate. The Nyayabinduprakarana (The Drop of Logic) was one of the seven Buddhist Science of Logic commentaries composed by Master Dharmakirti [6th or 7th century]. Three out of the seven are the principal essence and the other four are the sub-branches. The Drop of Logic is the most condensed one among the three principal essences. It illustrates mainly about actual direct cognition, resemblance direct cognition, actual inferential reasoning, resemblance inferential reasoning, actual eradication, resemblance eradication, actual establishment, and resemblance establishment. [07′02″]
What makes the Buddhist Science of Logic difficult to learn is that it involves very complicated rules and orders. First, we have to understand and master the methods, rules and orders, only then we can employ these deductions/reasoning/inferences to differentiate and analyze, and finally establish the profound truth which we want to comprehend. For instance: “Consider sound, it is a phenomenon, it is impermanent, because it is produced.” [Pointing the Way to Reasoning p.14] This premise of correct consequence conforms to three qualifications, namely: the reason’s relevance to the subject, positive pervasion, and reverse pervasion. The premise must be analyzed in depth through the relation between the sound and the produced, relation between the produced and impermanence, and relation between the sound and impermanence, so as to verify the premise’s validity. [A precise and accurate] premise has to be established by applying the correct reasoning in order to validate the correct consequence. If there is a minor mistake in any segment [of the reasoning process], one will fail to draw a correct consequence to establish the validity of the premise. Even if you force yourself to construct a premise, the opposite party would challenge it during the debate. If the opposite party is a debate expert, then such minor flaw would not be minor anymore, as it would render a crushing defeat because the other party would definitely spot your flaw, and this is known as torch-like-blazing-insight. [08′29″]
Therefore, without learning and practicing hard for a long period of time, [as well as] repeated examination and exploration, going through such brain racking contemplation process as if the brain is burning in a storm, and thoroughly challenging the limit of our reasoning capacity, it would be hard and [unlikely] for us to become proficient in dialectical thinking pattern. [Without such rigorous training,] we may not have it smooth, or we may lose our train of thought once in a while, not to mention that we have to argue logically with the expert in this field by applying such way of thinking and dialectic reasoning. Everyone, please think about it: With only listening to the teaching of the Drop of Logic once, [Master Atisha] dared to challenge the most prominent scholar at that time, and won over the opponent at the debate forum! A fifteen-year-old-teenager. It is hard to imagine the courage and wisdom [Master Atisha] had! It is still a great miracle even [we] hear of it nowadays! Understandably, Master said Master Atisha was extremely wise and learned, we should be totally convinced, right? [09′37″]
Master Atisha thoroughly integrated the entire Profound View and Extensive Deeds lineages, and passed down the lineages in their entirety. For this, we pay homage to him! [09′50″]
【全球广论 II 讲次: 0086】
讲次 0086
科判 道前基础
章节 〈皈敬颂〉论前皈敬
音档 2B 13:42 ~ 15:20
日期 2019/01/24 ~ 01/27
广论段落 P1-L7 摄二大车善传流……敬礼持彼燃灯智
手抄页/行 第1册 P56-LL4 ~ P57-L6 ( 2016 南普陀版：第1册 P56-LL4 ~ P57-L7 )
手抄段落 摄二大车善传流……阿底峡尊者是何等的聪明。
在听闻《广论》之前，请大家观察一下自己的相续，看看自己有没有准备好听闻前行。其实听闻轨理是一个很重要的训练，在《广论》上思惟听闻胜利的那一段，对我们每个常常听法的同学来说，文字上已经没有什么难以理解的，但是是否把它串习成惯修的一个习惯，甚至是听法之前习惯性地就会思惟闻法胜利？可以观察一下自己有没有建立一个这样的习惯。 [00′47″]
当我们开始专注地思惟闻法胜利的时候，我们的心就会从缘着现世的一些所缘上移开，缘到法对我们生命的利益；缘到法对我们生命的利益，我们就会审视自我的生命：为什么我们需要法？法对我们的生命的离苦得乐到底有怎样究竟的作用？最好能够转动内心，让内心感动。如果思惟闻法胜利常常让内心很感动，我们就会对法生起一个强大的欲求心。这个欲求心，有人形容就像饥渴难耐的人想要喝水一样。 [01′42″]
如何能在我们每天忙碌的这些所缘上，认真地做深度观察、深度思考，把闻法胜利建立在我们的心续里，可能大家需要持续地观察修。每一次都要把自己的心调整为——为了能够让无穷无尽的如母有情从痛苦的轮回中解脱出来，乃至究竟地离苦得乐，所以我们必须去希求佛果。为了这样的一个目的，我们来学习《广论》。 [02′19″]
好！如果大家已经观察调整自己的心续可以了，那今天应该听到：[摄二大车善传流，深见广行无错谬，圆满道心教授藏，敬礼持彼燃灯智。] [02′38″]
摄二大车善传流，深见广行无错谬，圆满道心教授藏，敬礼持彼燃灯智。
这个传承继续地下来，现在又有一个大善知识，那个大善知识，叫作阿底峡，阿底峡。阿底峡，这个西藏人对于这位尊者的尊称，他是印度人。对于印度人，相当于我们中国宋朝初年，宋朝初年。他出生在宋太宗——宋朝的第二代皇帝，到仁宗年间，相当于公元的九百多年到一千多年。那么这个大尊者啊，他是东印度的一个王子，从小的时候就一心想出家，一心想出家，绝顶聪明。我给你们那一本书，你们好好地看一看。他只有十几岁，只有十几岁啊，就随便学了一点世间的学问——因明。哦，这个因明对我们来说很难学的东西，十几岁他也听人家讲了一遍，就运用这个因明的理论跟人家辩论，把当年印度最负盛名的那个那个大学者辩倒了。哇！好不得了。将来如果你们真正地深入，你们都有机会学因明，你晓得因明这个东西非常难学。这个地方说明，这个阿底峡尊者是何等的聪明。 [04′18″]
好！这个偈颂又为我们介绍了一位大善知识，就是阿底峡尊者。可能很多老学员对于阿底峡尊者已经非常非常地熟悉了，新学员可能还不熟悉。阿底峡尊者，是我们的传承祖师里非常重要的一位祖师，也是对我们恩德非常深的一位祖师。尊者是一位东印度的王子，从小就非常非常地聪明，师父就举了那个例子：尊者在年少的时候就把当时最负盛名的那个大学者辩倒了，所以他是绝顶聪明的一个人。 [05′06″]
提到辩论，大家会想到《摄类学》吧！学过《摄类学》的同学有人有这样的经验：初学《摄类学》的时候会碰壁，有人感觉仿佛堕入黑暗，有时候觉得自己什么都不知道，原本自以为了解的东西，被别人一问，发现根本不知道；还有一些原以为自己是很聪明的，到了《摄类学》的时候，如果不顺，就会发现自己至极愚笨，自信心大受挫折。要爬过黑暗期，慢慢地找到感觉，再开始熟练地运用，在辩论场上悠游自在地辩论，那可是要花上很大的功夫啊！ [06′06″]
师父说：[因明对我们来说很难学的东西，十几岁他也听人家讲了一遍，就运用这个因明的理论跟人家辩论，把当年印度最负盛名的那个大学者辩倒了。 ]在传记里写到尊者十五岁的时候，只听了一遍《正理滴论》，就把最负盛名的外道辩倒了。 《正理滴论》是法称论师所写的七部量论之一；七部量论有分主体的三本论以及支分的四本论，《正理滴论》是主体的三本论中最略的一本，它阐述了正现前识、相似现前识、正比量、相似比量、正能破、相似能破、正能立语、相似能立语。 [07′02″]
因明之所以很难学，是因为它包含了非常复杂的规则，我们要了解或者掌握规则之后，才能够运用这些推理来辨析自己想要明白的那个深刻的道理。比如说：[声音有法，是无常，因为是所作的缘故。]这个正因论式符合了宗法、同品遍、异品遍的三个条件，而且必须详细地讨论声音与所作的关系、所作与无常的关系，还有声音与无常的关系，才能确定这个论式正确无误。用正确的论式才能成立出正确的立宗，只要其中一个环节有一点点错误，就无法立出真正的正因论式；就算你勉强立出了，在辩论时也会被对方攻难。如果遇到高手，那这点小错误就不是小错误，就会使整场辩论一败涂地，因为他一定会发现你的错处，叫慧眼如炬。 [08′29″]
所以如果没有经过长时间努力地学习，反覆地探讨，经过仿佛头脑燃烧般的那种风暴思考，而且彻底地挑战思惟的极限，我们可能很难学会用这样的论式熟练地思考，因为你可能会很不顺畅，或者偶尔中断，更何况还要用这样的思惟模式、这样的论式与这个领域的高手过招。大家可以想一想，如果是听了一遍《正理滴论》，就敢去挑战当时最负盛名的人，而且挑战了之后还把他辩败！一个十五岁的少年，很难想像的勇气和智慧！这在今天听起来也是一大奇迹呀！所以师父说阿底峡尊者是绝顶聪明的人，我们应该会心服口服吧？ [09′37″]
阿底峡尊者把深见、广行传承圆满无误地统摄起来，然后圆满地传持下来，所以我们礼敬他！ [09′50″]