Shantidevas Way of the Bodhisattva Chapter 9 outline

1. The 6 paramitas exist in order to bring wisdom to fruition. 2. Two truths are introduced. a. Ultimate i. Beyond intellect, beyond dualistic thinking (this and that). b. Conventional i. Arises as the phenomena before us. Conventional phenomena DO exist, they just exist differently than we think they do. ii. These are dependently arising events. They depend on other causes and conditions to come into being. 3. Two types of people. a. Those who engage in philosophical investigation i. Eternalist (Shamatha/concentration on an object) 1. Believe in a self-arising essence of conventional phenomena. ii. Centrists - Middle Way Practitioners - Madhyamika (Vipasana/insight/wisdom) 1. Those who believe that phenomena lack an intrinsic (self arising) essence. b. Commoners who do not engage in philosophical or spiritual practices. 4. Even among the Madhyamika there are disagreements. a. Sautantrikas i. Believe that the indescribable emptiness is the final nature of phenomena b. Prasangikas i. Wont commit to any final nature, including emptiness. 5. Many different interpretations of the teachings exist, depending on the understanding of the listener. 6. Differences between ordinary view and the Yogis view. a. Forms exist because we can all see and interact with them. But they do not exist in the way we think they do if you analyze them. i. What other criteria than appearance do we use to just phenomena? (A material nihilist, might wonder) ii. Things do appear. Phenomena, arise, but when we examine the object looking for its self arising essence, one cannot be found. Phenomena exist based on causes and conditions (including the consciousness of the perceiver karmic habituations) and not through its own self-arising essence. We can see that the mode of existence and the mode of appearance of objects, do not coincide they dont exist the way they appear to and so they are said to be misleading (impure).

7. How ordinary people become Yogis on the path. a. The Buddha taught many things in the sutras (4 truths, etc), arent these absolute truths? b. The Buddha taught these coarser lessons to gradually introduce common people to the reality of existence, but ultimately these things are non-existent and therefore even the qualities those objects are prescribed to have, such as impermanence, do not exist. 8. Is there a mistake in thinking that the world is passing by moment to moment? a. The verse describes that there is no mistake because the objects do have attributes of impermanence, etc. (but only conventionally). 9. If you deny true existence, how can we travel the path? How can we accumulate wisdom and merit? a. Wisdom is gained, merit is accumulated and the path is traversed, but these are only conventional causes and conditions they too, do not have an independent essence. They depend on causes and conditions. 10. If beings are like illusions how can they take rebirth? a. Even illusions are caused by causes and conditions, just because a phenomena has duration, that doesnt prove it to have a truly existing essence. 11. If beings are illusory, how can killing a being be called negative? a. Because the being doing the killing is also illusory the action is illusory and so illusory karma is also produced, positive or negative, it is accumulated based on causes or conditions. 12. Minds arise based on causes and conditions, just like everything else. The causes and conditions are similar to the result. (a rose seed produces a rose bush, an apple seed produces an apple tree, etc.) A single condition cannot produce everything. 13. If beings are ultimately not bound in Samsara, what is the point of the Bodhisattvas Way of Life? a. Illusory causes or conditions cause illusory suffering. Nagarjunas text on the Middle way never said that lack of inherent existence was liberation, its only a means to eliminate clinging (and thus suffering). There are three types of liberation (awakening) i. Natural 1. Lack of intrinsic existence. Because of this an individual can exist in Samsara and simultaneously be in a state of liberation. But this raises the question of whether or not a Buddha is in the cycle of existence. (A Buddha takes rebirth in Samsara not because of the habituations and ignorance of consciousness, but willfully because of their compassion for beings) ii. Residual iii. Non-residual 14. If causes and conditions cease, so do the objects. 15. If even deceptive [cognition] does not exist, by what is illusion ascertained?

16. If for you illusion itself does not exist, then what is to be ascertained? You may respond that in reality it exists
otherwise, simply as an expression of the mind.

a. An idealist hears this and thinks things dont exist, they are worthless, but that isnt the case: a. b.
An idealist might think that things have the essence of the nature of mind. Centrists state that objects exist, but are like an illusion