Rinpoche in the stupa garden at Kopan Monastery, Nepal, October 2020. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche continues his video teachings on thought transformation from Kopan Monastery in Nepal. Here is a summary of the most recent teaching:

Rinpoche begins this video reminding us what he has been discussing in his most recent teachings: that ignorance holding the I as real is the root that keeps us circling in samsara.

Rinpoche goes on to say that the wrong view of the real I that appears when we are frightened contains all the objects to be refuted. He then explains the different schools’ views of the object to be refuted.

The Vaibhashikas refute an I that is permanent, exists without depending on its parts, and exists independently, without depending on causes and conditions. The Sautrantikas refute a self-sufficient I, an I that does not depend on the aggregates for its existence. The Chittamatrins refute an I that exists without depending on a substance left on the mind-basis-of-all, from which both subject and object arise simultaneously. The Svatantrikas refute an I that exists without depending on appearing to the undefective mind that labels it. The Prasangikas refute an I that is labeled by the mind yet still exists from its own side.

The I that appears when we are frightened is a gross object to be refuted. It is not the subtle object to be refuted of the Prasangika school mentioned above. By knowing the subtle object to be refuted of each school, you will come to know exactly the right view of emptiness. Then, by knowing that, you will understand the subtle dependent arising of the Prasangika school—that the I and all other phenomena exist in mere name.

You then realize the absolute truth, the truth for wisdom. As a result of that, you come to know the truth for the all-obscuring mind (often called “the conventional truth”). Therefore, it is very useful to understand the Prasangika school’s subtle object to be refuted.

Not only the I appears in these wrong ways to the hallucinated mind. All existence from forms up until omniscient mind appear in this way. The forms you see, the sounds you hear, the smells, the tastes, the things you touch, and the phenomena that are the objects of the mental consciousness—the way all these appear to our hallucinated minds contains all the objects to be refuted of the five schools. As an example, Rinpoche shows us how our wrong view of Kopan Monastery also contains all these objects to be refuted.

Rinpoche quotes from Phabongka Rinpoche’s commentary on Lama Tsongkhapa’s Three Principal Aspects of the Path: “The root of us circling in samsara depends on the ignorance holding the I. In order to cut that, you need to generate the wisdom realizing no self.”

Hearing this, people might get confused and ask, “There is no I? I do not exist?” No, Rinpoche says, it is not like that. Here we are discussing the real I that is the gag ja, the object of refutation, of the different schools, which does not exist.

According to the Prasangikas, what is to be refuted is an I that is labeled by the mind but still there is something there from its own side. The wisdom realizing that that I is totally nonexistent is the wisdom realizing the no self.

Rinpoche quotes Phabongka Rinpoche’s commentary again: “The elaborate way of explaining no self as taught in the lamrim in relation to the analysis of the four vital points is good. However, here I will explain in brief the important points of the right view in dependence on the reasoning of dependent arising. All phenomena arise by depending on the base to labeled and [the consciousness] labeling it. Without depending on these, nothing even the size of an atom exists from its own side.” This means that all the phenomena ranging from forms up to omniscient mind do not exist in the way that they appear to us and the way we hold on to them. They totally do not exist from their own side.

Pleasure—all the things we become addicted to or have desire for—is not there, Rinpoche explains. People become involved in so many problems, being addicted to things—drugs, alcohol, sex, killing. These “pleasures” are a total hallucination! It is like we become addicted to creating suffering for ourselves. When we learn emptiness, that helps us control our desire and stops us from becoming addicted to so many things by enabling us to see that they do not exist in the way that they appear to us.

Phabongkha Rinpoche continues: “The I also arises in dependence on being merely labeled on the collection of body and mind. Other than that, without depending on being labeled on the collection of body and mind, the I does not exist from its own side. The body and mind also do not exist from their own side individually.” In short, the I does not exist from its own side; your body and mind, that is, the aggregates, do not exist from their own side; the parts of your body do not exist from their own side; and even the atoms of your body do not exist from their own side.

A very good meditation is to think, “Everything exists by being merely imputed in dependence on the valid base to be labeled and the valid concept labeling it.” By meditating like this, you will come to realize that nothing is real and that everything is totally empty of existing from its own side, which is a completely logical experience.

There is no real driver, there is no real car, there is no real road. There is no real eater, there is no real eating, there is no real food. There is no real buyer, there is no real shopkeeper, there are no real things to buy. This doesn’t mean nihilism—that they don’t exist at all. They do exist; they exist by being merely imputed on a valid base by a valid mind, Rinpoche explains.

What your mind focuses on as truly existent doesn’t exist from its own side even in the slightest. That means I, action, and object, samsara and nirvana, enlightenment and hell, happiness and problems—everything is empty of existing from its own side. The reason is that they are dependent arisings; they arise in dependence on being merely labeled by a valid mind in relation to a valid base. Things exist, but in a totally different way than how they appear to you and how you believe they exist. This is how you should meditate all the time to learn the truth about your life.

We invite you to go deeper into the topics presented here, plus many others, by watching Rinpoche’s video and reading the full transcript of Rinpoche’s teaching.

Watch Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s teaching “Understanding Emptiness Is Learning the Truth about Your Life”:
https://youtu.be/GJudajnF-vY

• Read the transcript of Rinpoche’s teaching
• Three Principal Aspects of the Path by Lama Tsongkhapa
• For more from Rinpoche on the object to be refuted, please see Recognizing the False I
• Find Rinpoche’s Teachings on Thought Transformation translated into Spanish, Italian, French, Chinese, and Russian
• Dedication verses for COVID-19 Crisis Teachings

Watch more from the video series Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Teachings on Thought Transformation during the Time of COVID-19 and find links to videos in transcripts, MP3s, additional practice advice, and more:
https://fpmt.org/fpmt/announcements/resources-for-coronavirus-pandemic/advice-from-lama-zopa-rinpoche-for-coronavirus/

Practice advice from our teachers, Dharma study-from-home opportunities, and more can be found on the page “Resources for the Coronavirus Pandemic.”

Lama Zopa Rinpoche is the spiritual director of the Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), a Tibetan Buddhist organization dedicated to the transmission of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and values worldwide through teaching, meditation and community service.