by Longchenpa
All the teachings of the sublime Dharma of the Mahāyāna are present in this doctrine of the three natures.
[Taken from the autocommentary, 212: 3–223: 4]
THE UNIVERSAL GROUND
ALL ACTIONS THAT lead either to saṃsāra or to the total purity [of enlightenment] are based, in the manner of seeds, in the universal ground (kun gzhi). As it is said in the Immaculate Wisdom of Mañjuśrī Sūtra, “The universal ground is the ground of all. It is the ground of saṃsāra, of nirvāṇa, and of the totally pure dimension of enlightenment.”
Now to refer to suchness or the ultimate expanse as the “universal ground” is to consider it as the neutral and completely indeterminate basis of all categorization. And it is on, or within, this ground that primordially unconditioned152 awareness is based—in a spontaneously present manner. From this point of view, moreover, the ultimate expanse is referred to as the ultimate universal ground of joining (sbyor ba don gyi kun gzhi).153 The failure to recognize awareness is the basis for the phenomena of saṃsāra: the eight consciousnesses together with their habitual tendencies. And it is from this point of view that the ultimate expanse is referred to as the universal ground of various habitual tendencies (bag chags sna tshogs pa’i kun gzhi), on which are based all conditioned virtue and nonvirtue, through which the various states of happiness and suffering arise.
All the virtuous actions that cause and lead to their result, namely, happiness in saṃsāra (bsod nams cha mthun), are based on the universal ground of various habitual tendencies. And it is on this too that all the virtues leading to liberation (thar pa cha mthun) are based. Finally, the result, which consists in the removal of, or separation from, obscuring stains (bral ’bras), is based on the buddha-potential (rigs). This may be explained in greater detail as follows.
On the indeterminate universal ground are based—in both their causal and resultant aspects—negative action, lesser (that is, samsaric) virtue, action leading to liberation (which results in the removal of obstructions to the state beyond suffering), and action leading to total purity, namely, all the realizations that occur on the path.
Virtue leading to liberation, which is an aspect of the truth of the path, is conditioned and adventitious and is based on the universal ground of various habitual tendencies as the cause or agent of the removal of, or separation from, obscuring stains (bral rgyu). The state resulting from such a removal has its basis in the buddha-potential. It is as when the sun is freed from the clouds that obscure it. The resultant light is grounded in the sun itself.
As it is said in the Uttaratantra-śāstra,
Earth is based on water; water’s based on wind,
And wind indeed is based on space.
But space itself is not based on the elements
Of wind or water or of earth.
Likewise aggregates, the elements, and senses—
All are based on karma and defilement.
And karma and defilement both
Depend upon the mind’s improper use.
And the mind’s improper use
Depends upon the mind’s own purity.
But the nature of the mind itself
Does not depend on any such phenomena.154
In the same way as it is said here, the pure buddhafields and all enlightened qualities are primordially present—in the manner of the twofold buddha-potential—within the space-like, pure nature of the mind. The buddha-potential is the primordial, pure expanse of ultimate reality (thog ma med pa’i chos khams dge ba).155 It is the ground that is the basis for the separation from, or removal of, obscuration; it is thus the basis for nirvāṇa. Here it is necessary to understand the four terms: the ground or basis of removal (bral gzhi), the causal agent of removal (that which removes, bral rgyu), the result of removal (bral ’bras), and the object of removal (that which is to be removed, bral bya).
The basis or ground for the removal or separation is the buddha-element (khams) or essence (snying po). The causal agent of the removal is virtue leading to liberation, which cleans away the stains upon the ground of the removal and is the aspect of the path. The result of the removal is the immaculate sugatagarbha: the actualization of all enlightened qualities. The object of removal, the factors to be removed or detached, are the eight consciousnesses together with their habitual patterns, based as these are on the universal ground of various habitual tendencies. In the language of the Secret Mantra, these four terms are referred to as the ground of purification (sbyang gzhi), the agent or means of purification (sbyong byed), the result of purification (sbyang ’bras), and the factors to be purified (sbyang bya). The terminology is different but the meaning is the same.
All the causes of the impure state of saṃsāra, along with the associated consciousnesses—and also all the conditioned virtues that connect one to the ground of liberation—have for a long time been based (without being actually located anywhere) in the universal ground of various habitual tendencies, the nature of which is the state of ignorance.
All the qualities of nirvāṇa are based in the ultimate expanse, which is why the latter is known as the ultimate ground of joining (sbyor ba don kyi kun gzhi). Its nature (ngo bo) is empty; its character (rang bzhin) is luminous; and its cognitive potency (thugs rje) is all-pervading. Its jewel-like qualities are spontaneously present. It is neither stained nor is it freed from stains. It is primordially luminous and is inseparable from the kāyas and wisdoms. This state is referred to as the fundamental mode of being (gnas lugs kyi don). From the standpoint of its utter purity, it is referred to with such terms as “the space-like state,” “absence of characteristics,” “emptiness,” “the perfectly unconditioned state,” and so on. Nevertheless, it is not mere nothingness, a nihilistic void. For within its state of luminosity, the kāyas and wisdoms are spontaneously present. It is totally free or empty of samsaric phenomena. As it is said in the Ghanavyūha-sūtra,
The pure disk of the moon
Is always full and free from stain.
Owing to its temporal phases,
Wordly people think it grows and shrinks.
So too the actual universal ground
Is replete at all times with the buddha essence—
This essence that the Tathāgata
Indicated with the name of “universal ground.”
The childish in their ignorance,
Enslaved by habit, see this universal ground
In forms of various joys and pains,
As karma, ordinary cognition, and defilement.
Its nature, nonetheless, is pure and free from stain.
Its qualities are like the wish-fulfilling gem.
It is unmoving and is free from change.
To recognize it perfectly is utter freedom.
And Maitreya has said [in the Uttaratantra],
Therein is nothing to remove
And thereto not the slightest thing to add.
The perfect truth viewed perfectly
And perfectly beheld is liberation.156
Many names are given to the ultimate universal ground. It is the basis, source, and cause of removal [of obscuration] and so on, and it is from this point of view that it is referred to as the ultimate universal ground of joining; as the beginningless, pure expanse of ultimate reality (thog ma med pa’i chos khams dge ba); as the sugatagarbha, the buddha-element; as the luminous nature of the mind; the dharmadhātu, the most fundamental mode of being; as naturally pure suchness; as the perfection of wisdom, and so on.
Once again, the habitual tendencies of saṃsāra are based upon the nature of the mind, and it is from this point of view that the nature of the mind is referred to as the universal ground of various habitual tendencies. For it provides the support for the gathering of nonvirtuous actions, virtuous actions, actions that lead to liberation, and actions that lead to the total purity of enlightenment. These actions, which from the very beginning are devoid of real existence, arise adventitiously. Furthermore, both positive and negative actions a
re based upon the universal ground of various habitual tendencies. And since the nature of the universal ground of various habitual tendencies is ignorance [the absence of discernment], it is indeterminate. Some say that its nature is not ignorance because it is itself the support of the five poisons as well as of utter purity. This is simply a misunderstanding, however. For the ignorance here referred to [as being the nature of the universal ground] is not the ignorance that is numbered among the five poisons. In the present case, the ignorance is the coemergent ignorance (lhan cig skyes pa’i ma rig pa): the first moment of delusion that leads to saṃsāra.157
The assertion that the universal ground provides support for the utter purity of enlightenment also requires examination. The universal ground of various habitual tendencies is the support neither of the primordial wisdom of buddhahood, which is endowed with the twofold purity (primordial purity and purity from all adventitious stains) nor of the buddha essence. This is because the universal ground as such is to be transmuted [into wisdom]. As it is said in the Sacred Golden Light Sūtra, “The universal ground, once transmuted, is the dharmakāya itself.” And in the Exhaustion of the Four Elements Tantra, we find: “The purified universal ground is the dharmadhātu.” The universal ground of various habitual tendencies is not the support of the buddha-element. It is rather the support or cause for the separation of impurities from the buddha-element. Thus it provides the support simply for the process of enlightenment through the conditioned accumulations of merit and of wisdom, which result from meditating on the path. Since the accumulations are contained within the truth of the path, they are said to be deceptive and impermanent. And this is so because they are based on the universal ground of various habitual tendencies.
But if they are based on the universal ground, it may be asked, how could the two accumulations adversely affect this same ground? It is just as with a flame that depends upon a wick while yet consuming it, and like a fire that burns the wood on which it depends. In just the same way, the path of the two accumulations, which is based, or depends, on the universal ground, purifies samsaric tendencies, thus dispelling all that defiles or obscures the buddha nature or element. Since the path of the two accumulations actualizes buddhahood, thereby rendering manifest the buddha nature as it is in its pristine state before being veiled, it is called a “pure condition or cause.” Subsequently, however, even this purifying antidote [the path of the two accumulations] is consumed, for it is a virtue that is imputed by the mind and thus belongs to the imputed reality. As it is said in the Commentary to the Uttaratantra-śāstra, “In the moment of manifest enlightenment, all true paths are eliminated.” And as it is said in the Madhyamakāvatāra,
The tinder of phenomena is all consumed,
And this is peace, the dharmakaya of the Conquerors.158
So it is taught, here and elsewhere. And yet, one may ask, how can all true paths be eliminated? For the truth of path consists in the “emptiness of what should not be spurned” (dor ba med pa’i stong pa nyid),159 as well as of the thirty-seven factors of enlightenment. But the emptiness of what should not be spurned and the thirty-seven factors are included in the level of buddhahood. They are not part of the path because they belong to the stage at which the path is perfected.
It is said that the universal ground of various habitual tendencies is referred to by means of many synonymous terms: coemergent ignorance, beginningless and endless obscuration, great darkness, primordial nescience, and so on.
Moreover, the nature of the mind is like space. This beginningless expanse is called the ultimate universal ground of joining because liberation depends on it. It is also called the universal ground of various habitual tendencies because saṃsāra is based in it. And it is explained that from this nature of the mind, there arise happiness and suffering, faults and excellent qualities, all of which belong to the distinct experiences of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa. As the Commentary to the Uttaratantra declares,
Endless and beginningless in time,
The ultimate expanse is where all things abide.
All migrating beings have it;
Thus they have the state beyond all pain.
It is now time to distinguish the universal ground and the eight consciousnesses. The universal ground of various habitual tendencies, which [in respect of virtue and nonvirtue] is indeterminate, is like a mirror; the consciousness of the universal ground is like the clear sheen of the mirror; and the consciousnesses of the five senses are like images reflected therein. Now the first moment of clear discernment of a foregoing object—the first moment of identifying an appearing object of [one of] the five senses—is the mental consciousness, or intellect (yid shes). The feeling of desire, aversion, or indifference that then arises toward the perceived object is called the defiled mental consciousness (nyon yid).
Certain masters in the past have said that if the defiled mental consciousness does not examine the object, the consciousnesses of the six gatherings alone do not accumulate karma because they are not conditioned by any of the three poisons. This assertion, however, must be further examined. This is indeed the case when the view, meditation, and conduct are maintained once the nature of phenomena has been recognized. On the other hand, beings who have never turned their minds to these matters and who are thus in a state of ignorance, do, as a result, accumulate negative actions.
To state the matter more explicitly, the door through which karma is accumulated is the mental sense organ in concert with the five effective sense organs. The agents of karmic accumulation are the defiled mental consciousness, the virtuous mental consciousness, and the neutral mental consciousness. The karma is accumulated in the universal ground, while the consciousness of the universal ground provides the space in which karma is developed, accumulated, diminished, and so on.
As it is said in the Commentary to the Sūtrālaṃkāra composed by the master Sthiramati,
The mental organ and the five sense organs (the eyes and so on) are the doors of karmic deeds. These are the access points for engaging in action. The mental consciousness or intellect (yid), which entertains virtuous, nonvirtuous, or neutral thought, is the agent of karmic action. The six objects (form and so on) are the objects of action. The consciousness of the universal ground provides the space for karmic action, while the universal ground is the basis or location—the home, as it were—for such action.
The consciousness of the universal ground is a clear and limpid state of cognition, in which there is no apprehension of either an object or a subject. From this, the five sense consciousnesses propagate. The visual consciousness [for example] perceives forms. It is not conceptual but is rather the detection of the form’s aspects. The same is true for the consciousnesses of the ears, the nose, the tongue, and the body. They perceive their respective objects (sound, odor, taste, and texture) but are nonconceptual. They are cognitions of the different aspects [of their objects]. That which originates from the appearing objects of the five sense consciousnesses—or rather that which vividly manifests in the likeness of their aspects—is the phenomenon [which is mental] and also the mental consciousness. That is, from the side of the object, it is the mental phenomenon, whereas from the side of its arising in the mind (in the same aspect as it is perceived), it is said to be the mental consciousness. As it is said in the Commentary to the Sūtrālaṃkāra,
The mental consciousness arises in the same aspect as the (outer) object occurring in the preceding moment of the sense consciousness. Alternatively, it is a cognition that perceives an object that is not actually present. It is both an object and a consciousness.
Now as soon as the five sense consciousnesses and the consciousness of the universal ground cease—that is, as soon as the object of the preceding moment of the sense consciousnesses ceases, or rather, as soon as the six consciousnesses that derive from these objects cease, there occurs what is referred to as the mental organ and its consciousness. As it is said in the Abhidharmakośa,
In the moment that the
six have ceased,
The occurring consciousness is mental.
When a form is seen, the consciousness of the universal ground is present, clear and limpid, without any apprehension of an object. The aspect of the seen object as this has arisen in consciousness is the visual consciousness. The subsiding of these two consciousnesses is called their cessation, and the cognitive aspect that then arises in an instant of thinking “This is a form” is said to be the mental consciousness (yid), or mind (sems). Since this moment of cognition is extremely rapid, there is no precise thought or conception, and so it is accounted nonconceptual (rtog med). But since it is the first moment of “knowing” the object, it is also said to be the “cognition of the apprehended” (gzung ba’i rtog pa). All detailed examinations of the object that derive subsequently from this first moment are considered to be the “cognition of the apprehender” (’dzin pa’i rtog pa).160
Therefore, even though in the first moment, the mental consciousness knows its object, if there does not follow an examination of this object, karma is not accumulated. This is the assertion of all great yogis.
As it is said in the Song of Realization of Kuddālīpāda,
When consciousnesses of objects of the six sense powers
Are unspoiled by grasping, this is suchness.
There is no karmic action, no ripening of the same.
You see the stainless state that’s similar to space.
[Taken from the autocommentary, 271: 3–280: 3]
THE UNIVERSAL GROUND, THE EIGHT CONSCIOUSNESSES, AND THE STATE OF SLEEP
WHEN BEINGS LIVING in the desire realm are on the point of falling asleep, the five sense consciousnesses and the defiled mental consciousness dissolve into the mental consciousness. The mental consciousness then dissolves into the consciousness of the universal ground and, for a short moment, there arises a clear, nonconceptual state. Some masters of the New Translation schools say that practitioners who recognize this state, and remain in the recognition of it, do not dream but experience the luminosity of ultimate reality. In fact, however, the consciousness of the universal ground dissolves into the universal ground, in which there is no conception of anything. And as the universal ground dissolves into the dharmadhātu, all apprehension, both gross and subtle, ceases, and ultimate reality—empty, luminous, and free from conceptual movement—manifests. If this state is recognized, all delusions are arrested. As it is said in the Compendium Tantra of Precious Secret Wisdom,