T H E TAT HAGATA 145 the three main stages For example, someone may think, "Well, the Buddha died, so the Buddha is not here now The Buddha does not exist now because the Buddha is impermanent." If someone thinks like that, then the explanation to give is that the dharmakaya of natural purity is permanent and unchanging.28 The dharmakaya of natural purity is nothing other than the Buddha, and therefore the " Buddha is permanent The Buddha is precisely the natural purity of reality's basic essence, which never ceases to exist On the other hand, if people cling to the notion that the Buddha is permanent, then they need the explanation from the perspective of the form kayas, which is that even the Buddha passes into nir vana.29 Even the Buddha dies So that is the way these two explana tions are used, depending upon the way a person thinks In fact, the true nature of reality transcends both the permanence and the impermanence of the Buddha That is the actual nature of reality It is the same with thinking about things being either finite or infi nite-the same analysis applies The sixteenth verse of the chapter reads: Whatever is the nature of the Tathagata, That is the nature of wandering beings The Tathagata has no inherent nature; Wandering beings have no inherent nature The nature of the tathagatas is beyond any concept of what it might be It is completely free of any stain It is originally pure 28 The dharmakaya is one of the three kayas, or dimensions of enlightenment The other two are the sambhogakaya and nirmanakaya (described in note 29) The dharmakaya refers to the Buddha's enlightened mind, and the dharmakaya of natural purity is the true nature of that enlightened mind, as well as the true nature of the mind of every sentient being In its nature it transcends conceptual fabrication; it is the essence of genuine reality When one realizes its nature perfectly, one attains the dharmakaya free of fleeting stains, awakening into the complete and perfect enlightenment of buddhahood 29 There are two form kayas, the sambhogakaya and the nirmanakaya The former appears to and teaches exclusively the noble bodhisattvas on the ten bodhisattva grounds; the latter appears to and teaches ordinary sentient beings and noble bodhisattvas alike T H E TAT HAGATA That, precisely, is the nature of sentient beings-completely beyond concept, completely free of stains, pure from the very beginning The true nature of the Tathagata and the true nature of sentient beings are exactly the same Samsara and nirvana are equality-in their true nature, they are the same This is what is taught in Mahamudra and Dzogchen, and just as it is taught that samsara and nirvana are equality, so it is with buddhas and sentient beings-they are equality 23 An Examination of Mistakes In the Prajnaparamita Sutras, the Buddha taught: Desire is perfectly pure, and therefore forms are perfectly pure CONNECTING THIS WITH other mental afflictions and confused concepts: Aversion is perfectly pure, and therefore forms are perfectly pure Pride is perfectly pure, and therefore forms are perfectly pure Stupidity is perfectly pure, and therefore forms are perfectly pure Jealousy is perfectly pure, and therefore forms are perfectly pure 148 M I STAKES Wrong views are perfectly pure, and therefore forms are perfectly pure Doubts are perfectly pure, and therefore forms are perfectly pure Thus the Buddha taught about perfect purity in a vast way The reason Nagarjuna composed this chapter was that there were those who said, "Samsara exists because the mistakes that produce it exist Mental afflictions cause sentient beings to accumulate karma, and as a result they take birth again and again in samsara." In order to help these people overcome their confused belief in the reality of samsara, Nagarjuna had to present an analysis of the mis takes that produce samsara: mistaken concepts about reality; the mental afflictions arising from these mistaken concepts; and the kar miC actions motivated by these mental afflictions Nagarjuna had to demonstrate that none of these things truly exist In general, people have a tendency to believe that being mistaken and being unmistaken, being right and being wrong, are real People conceive of right and wrong as being opposites that truly exist If we are not able to reverse this tendency to think that right and wrong are truly existent, it will be impossible for us to realize empti ness This is why it is very important for us to analyze mistakes and determine their true nature It is also the case that sometimes people think, "I really not understand this stuff and all my views are wrong I am constantly thinking about things wrongly, I have all these bad thoughts, and I have so many doubts I am never going to attain enlightenment." In this way, they get very discouraged At other times people think, "Look at that guy He does everything wrong His views are com pletely wrong His conduct is completely wrong." This type of thought is wrong in itself, though, for how could anyone know for certain what is inside another person's mind? Therefore, in order to reverse our tendency to get discouraged ourselves, as well as our M I STAKES 149 tendency to have wrong views concerning others, it is important for us to examine the true nature of mistakes To put this into verse: So that we are no longer discouraged by our own bad thoughts, and So that we no longer incorrectly judge others to have bad thoughts, Let us examine mistakes' true nature We can begin by examining the mental afflictions that arise as a result of mistaken thoughts and that cause us to take mistaken ac tions The main mental afflictions are desire or attachment, aver sion, and stupidity Desire's referent object, what it focuses on, is something we consider pleasant Aversion's referent object is some thing we find unpleasant, and stupidity's referent object is a mistake, a wrong view Therefore, what we need to examine are these three objects: those we consider pleasant, those we consider unpleasant, and mistakes When we examine these objects, however, we cannot find any thing really there at all Whatever object we analyze, we find that it is merely imputed to exist in dependence upon its parts Analyzing the parts themselves, we find that they too are imputed to exist in dependence upon their own parts Down to the subtlest particles of matter imaginable, nothing has any type of existence other than as a mere dependent imputation Therefore, since there really is no object out there, no reference point for any notions of pleasant or unpleasant, pleasant and unpleasant themselves cannot exist This is what Nagarjuna teaches in the ninth verse: How could it be possible for Sentient beings who are like illusions Or objects that are like reflections To be either pleasant or unpleasant? ... precisely, is the nature of sentient beings-completely beyond concept, completely free of stains, pure from the very beginning The true nature of the Tathagata and the true nature of sentient beings... a result they take birth again and again in samsara." In order to help these people overcome their confused belief in the reality of samsara, Nagarjuna had to present an analysis of the mis... dependence upon their own parts Down to the subtlest particles of matter imaginable, nothing has any type of existence other than as a mere dependent imputation Therefore, since there really is