2. Practices in common with the teaching of the middle scope person (afflictive, cognitive obscurations/contaminated karmas/active seeds/afflictions/active seeds/Nagarjunas verse Flashcards
What is the goal of the middle scope person?
Nirvana = Pratimoksch.
Afflictive obscuration stop us from getting to the goal of Nirvana.
Does the great scope person also have the goal of the middle scope person?
The great scope person has to attain Nirvana first for themself, to be able to get a good rebirth to practice for the full Buddhahood.
Why don’t we attain Nirvana and Buddhahood?
We lack fearlessness/Nirvana because we are obscured by afflictive
obscuration!
We lack Buddhahood/infinite happiness because we are obscured by
cognitive obscuration!
What constitutes afflictive obscurations:
contaminated karmas ,
afflictions and their corresponding active seeds.
What constitutes the contaminated karmas:
non virtues actions like
engaging in the 10 non virtues
What constitutes afflictions:
Pride, anger, mental factors, ignorance, etc.
Do not forget:
Karma/actions and afflictions are mutually exclusive, they do not have
a locus point, why not? Afflictions are the driving forces and the
actions are the outcomes of it!!
What constitutes active seeds:
Something which has the potential to give rise to an action!
F. ex.:
active seed for us to take birth as a human being,
burned apple seed and an unburned apple seed. The burned one is
inactive!!
What constitutes cognitive obscuration:
subtle stain or inactive seeds of
ignorance, of afflictions, contaminated karmas, f.ex.: smell of garlic in a
glas, which had garlic in it before.
Without the wisdom of emptiness we will never understand what is cognitive obscurations!
What is the main practice of the middle scope person?
The training in the 3 higher trainings!
All the 3 trainings have to be motivated by renunciation!
Motivation is the initial trigger point!
Also the verse of Nagarjuna with the 5 points is important!
((Arya Nagarjuna in the Mulamadhyamakakarika (The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way):
- Ceasing of (contaminated) karmas and (gross) afflictions is Nirvana
- contaminated Karma and afflictions (gross) arise from the conceptualization of the inappropriate attention (subtle affliction) (exaggerating/ underestimating quality of object)
- Which in turn arises from the elaboration of self grasping ignorance (subtle affliction)
- The elaboration ceases through the wisdom of emptiness
==========»
What constitutes the cause of suffering:
(5 keypoints from the above verse of Nagarjuna): 1x result / 4x causes
1. Samsara /misery (result)
2. Contaminated Karmas (cause)
3. (gross) afflictions (cause)
4. (conceptualisation of) Inappropriate attention (subtle affliction) (cause)
5. Self-grasping ignorance (subtle affliction) (cause)))
What is the impotant verse of Arya Nagarjuna in the Mulamadhyamakakarika (The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way)? What are the 5 keypoints?
- Ceasing of (contaminated) karmas and (gross) afflictions is Nirvana
- contaminated Karma and afflictions (gross) arise from the conceptualization of the inappropriate attention (subtle affliction) (exaggerating/ underestimating quality of object)
- Which in turn arises from the elaboration of self grasping ignorance (subtle affliction)
- The elaboration ceases through the wisdom of emptiness
==========»
What constitutes the cause of suffering:
(5 keypoints from the above verse of Nagarjuna): 1x result / 4x causes
1. Samsara /misery (result)
2. Contaminated Karmas (cause)
3. (gross) afflictions (cause)
4. (conceptualisation of) Inappropriate attention (subtle affliction) (cause)
5. Self-grasping ignorance (subtle affliction) (cause)
What main points constitute renunciation?
It has many levels!
1.It is aspiration to be free from samsara
2.wanting to renounce the afflictions
3.wanting to get rid of SGI (root of all suffering)
4.inexperince of emptiness
==» transcending sorrow is absolute peace.
What is the practice of the middle scope person?
Here we become a spiritual person. Renunciation, training in the 10 virtues, refraining from the 10 non virtues, the three higher trainings. You know how to exit samsara completely. Than you worry about other people. The aspiration to attain Buddahood for others is the Bodhicitta. Wise people truly train their mind. Mind expands with compassion that comes only from the 2 methods of Bodhicitta.
Here one eradicate the afflictive obscurations, one realizes the emptiness of Selflessness of autonomous substantial reality (SAR), for that you attain Nirvana!
