THE PRESENTATION OF KARMA (3) Teaching how they are vows that discard 18ab The two, on N ot Unable s paths O f no obstacles, are called discarding The two, vows of dhyana and undefiled vows, if supported on the level of N ot Unable,184 and produced as the essence of the path o f no obstacles, discard immorality and the afflictions that motivate it, so they are called discarding vows Therefore there are four possibilities between dhyana or undefiled vows and discarding vows (c) Additional points 18cd Mindfulness and awareness are Restraint o f m ind and faculties The sutras say: Restraint Restraint Restraint Restraint o f body is excellent o f speech is excellent o f m ind is excellent in all is excellent They also say, “Whoever binds the faculty of the eye abides by a vow.” W hat is the nature o f the vows or restraint of the m ind and faculties explained there? you ask They not have the nature o f an imperceptible Well then, what are they? you ask Mindfulness, which does not forget what to and what not to do, and awareness, which knows what that is, are both also said to be restraint o f the m ind and restraint of the faculties because these two prevent the m ind and faculties from acting incorrectly toward the object and bind them ¡i Explaining the three types of karma together This has four topics: (1) How long they are possessed, (2) How they are attained, (3) Causes that cancel them, and (4) W hat support possesses them (1) How long they are possessed This has four topics: (a) How impercepti bles are possessed, (b) How perceptibles are possessed, (c) Synonyms of wrong vows, and (d) Explaining their four possibilities (a) How imperceptibles are possessed T h i s h a s t hr ee t opi cs : (i) H o w v o w s 309 YOUTHFUL PLAY # AREA IV that are not equipoise are possessed, (ii) How vows o f equipoise are possessed, and (iii) How mid-vows are possessed (i) How vows that are not equipoise are possessed This has two points A Vows 19 O ne who has pratimoksa has The present imperceptible Until it s canceled From the first M om ent and on, one has the past O ne who has pratim oksa or vows of individual liberation has the present im perceptible as long as they have the vows until it is canceled by that individual returning the vows and so forth From the first m om ent and on until the vows are canceled, one also has the past B W rong vows 20a It s so for those with wrong vows, too It is so for those individuals who have w rong vows, too, as they possess their wrong vows similarly (ii) How vows of equipoise are possessed 20b—d Those who possess the vows of dhyana Possess the past and future Nobles At first not possess the past lab In equipoise, on noble paths: The present imperceptible Those who possess vows o f dhyana, from the m om ent they arise until they are canceled, must always possess both the past and the future imperceptible Noble individuals, at the time o f the first undefiled mom ent, n ot possess the past undefiled vow, since it has not previously arisen This is because the vow has never arisen before the dharma forbearance o f knowing suffering, so the past imperceptible cannot have been possessed Those who abide in the equipoise of the worldly paths and possess the vows o f dhyana and those in the equipoise o f the noble path who possess undefiled vows have the present imperceptible, so they have all three times 310 THE PRESENTATION OF KARMA (¡¡¡) How mid-vows are possessed This has two points A A ctual led If in between, at first the middle; From then on, one has the two times If there is the imperceptible o f a mid-vow that is in between a vow and a wrong vow, in the first moment, the imperceptible o f the middle time between the past and future, the present, is possessed From then, the first moment, on until the mid-vow is canceled, one also has the past, so one possesses two times B As an elaboration, h o w those w h o have vows o r w ro n g vows possess m id vows 2 Those with wrong vows can have the virtuous, And those with vows can have nonvirtuous Impercepts as long as they are Very sincere or strongly afflicted W hen those w ith w rong vows something virtuous such as a prostration out o f great sincerity, they can have the virtuous mid-vow, and when those w ith vows something nonvirtuous, such as killing or beating someone out of the force of afflictions, they can have the nonvirtuous mid-vows im per ceptible These remain with them as long as they are very sincere or strongly afflicted (b) How perceptibles are possessed 23 Those who are acting all possess The percept of the present time From the first m om ent until canceled, They have the past, but not the future 24ab There’s no possession of the past Obscured, nor o f the unobscured Those who abide by vows, wrong vows, or mid-vows and are actually, per ceptibly acting, all possess the perceptible o f body and speech o f the pre sent time From the first m om ent until the action is canceled by the cause of 311 YOUTHFUL PLAY ?f A R E A IV cancellation, they also have the past But there is no t any possession o f the future perceptible because it does not follow the mind There is no possession o f the past obscured, nor o f the unobscured neutral perceptibles, because they are extremely weak and thus are unable to create past or future attainment (c) Synonyms of wrong vows 24cd Wrong vows, and harmful conduct, and Immoral, karma, and its path The body and speech are not bound, so they are wrong vows And they are criticized by the exalted and produce an unpleasant result, so they are harmful conduct A nd they are the opposite of discipline, so they are immorality They are karma o f body and speech, so they are karma W hen the actual taking of life is completed, they are included in the actual basis, and so for that reason they are its karmic path (d) Explaining the four possibilities of possessing perceptibles and im perceptibles 25 As its between, the m ind is weak Thus one who acts has just the percept W hen a noble’s percept has been canceled Yet still is unborn, they have the impercept The first possibility: as it, a mid-vow is between a vow and a wrong vow, the m ind is weak T hus one who performs a virtuous or nonvirtuous act has just the perceptible only The second possibility is w hen a noble individual’s per ceptible from their previous lifetime has been canceled and yet their percep tible for this life still is unborn; that noble has no perceptible but does have the im perceptible.185 The third possibility is such as when someone who has vows prostrates The fourth possibility is such as an ordinary individual in the Formless realm Because the last two possibilities are easy to understand, they are not mentioned in the root text (2) How they are attained This has three topics: (a) How vows are attained, (b) How wrong vows are attained, and (c) How mid-vows are attained 312 THE PRESENTATION OF KARMA (a) How vows are attained This has two topics: (i) Actual, and (ii) W hat vows are attained in relation to (i) Actual This has three topics: A How vows o f dhyana are attained, B How undefiled vows are attained, and C H ow the vows of individual liberation are attained A H o w vows o f dhyana are attained 26ab The dhyana vows are gained with the level O f dhyana itself T he dhyana-produced vows are gained by attaining the actual practice and preparations o f the m ind o f the level o f dhyana itself because they arise si multaneously with the m ind of dhyana N ot Unable is attained by training The actual practice is attained by detachment If the first dhyana arises out of the higher second dhyana, it is attained when either the preparations or the actual practice arise B H o w u n defiled vows are attained 26bc The undefiled By nobles T he undefiled vows are attained by the arising of the noble levels: any one of the six levels o f undefiled dhyana C H o w the vows o f individual liberation are attained This has two topics: General overview, and Specific explanations G eneral overview 26cd Pratimoksa is through The perceptible of others, et cetera Those vows called pratim oksa individual liberation are attained through the perceptible speech and prayers to the Sangha o f others including abbots, mas ters and so forth, because others can perceive that the vow has been born in one s being, and one can also perceive for oneself the p roof that it is born within one’s continuum T he phrase “et cetera” includes the desire to take the vow, the knowledge of attaining it, and renunciation 313 ... From then on, one has the two times If there is the imperceptible o f a mid-vow that is in between a vow and a wrong vow, in the first moment, the imperceptible o f the middle time between the. .. ceptible These remain with them as long as they are very sincere or strongly afflicted (b) How perceptibles are possessed 23 Those who are acting all possess The percept of the present time From the. .. possess the perceptible o f body and speech o f the pre sent time From the first m om ent until the action is canceled by the cause of 311 YOUTHFUL PLAY ?f A R E A IV cancellation, they also have the