was the junior wife's daughter she said, "What are you eating, you cow?" Then, realizing it was her own daughter, she said, "My pet is eating something." Assertion: Treatises on social conventions state that those who are abusive should be punished Answer: Just as it plainly says those who are abusive should be punished, likewise why should those who speak pleasingly not be rewarded? It would be reasonable to reward them, but since these treatises not mention that, they are misleading It is like the people of Dravira who consider killing because of a mere disagreement, but not reward those who speak pleasantly Assertion: Anger is reasonable because abuse reveals one's faults to others Answer: If those things for which you are reviled, such as your blindness or lameness, are known to others even when they have not been told, it is unreasonable to be angry with the one who mentions them, for even unmentioned they are selfevident to others If that is unreasonable, how much more so is anger toward those who speak untruly when one does not possess a fault Thus anger is always inappropriate It is wrong for a king to punish both someone who calls the blind "blind" as well as someone who calls those who are not blind "blind." It is unreasonable to be angry at hearing abuse from one's inferiors Merely some abusive words from inferiors, who like what is profane and constantly ill deeds, taking a delight in others' suffering, not ensure one's escape, since they may beat or kill one Therefore regarding mere abuse from one's inferiors as an isolated and trivial error, it is appropriate to feel glad It is like the following analogy: When the Exalted Puma promised to bear whatever the people on the other side of the River Sona2' did, the Teacher gave him permission to train them The Exalted Puma wanted to train the people of the country on the other side of the River Sona The Supramundane Victor told him, "Those people are wild and fierce If you live there, you'll experience suffering." He answered, "If they abuse me I will think, how wonderful they didn't beat me They are kind If they take my life I will think, how wonderful that they have put an end to this rotten body They have helped me." Then the Supramundane Victor agreed Assertion: It is not wrong to punish those who slander the innocent Answer: Retaliation by hurting others like the slanderer is not of the slightest use to you in reversing what has already been done and so forth In that case your approval of aggression, which has nothing but drawbacks and no advantages, is just an addiction to something wrong It is like testing a weapon to see whether it is sharp or not Someone wondered whether a weapon was sharp or not and tested it on the body of the very man who had made it Testing the weapon in that way was a waste of his work and of no benefit; it only created an ill deed." Question: What wise person tolerates others' worthless abuse? Answer: If through patience one gives anger no opportunity and does not harm others, one will acquire the fragrance and adornment [of virtue], a flowing river [of tranquillity] undisturbed by ill will, and a pleasing appearance Then who is as foolish as one who obstructs this supreme path, for he assiduously destroys his good qualities Therefore only those who bear abuse should be called wise It is like a woman who killed her husband when he had only a little life left A woman's husband wanted to die and had only a little life-force left She thought, "He's going to die in pain I should kill him," and exerted herself to perform an ill deed.z3 For the following reason, too, one should get rid of anger: Aggression especially does not arise toward the strong because one is powerless to harm them For what reason then you approve of aggressive anger toward the wretched, which defeats only the weak? Such approval is improper It is like bravery in defeating women A certain king wanted to take a city and called his soldiers together to ask what they would when they besieged it One said, "My Lord, I will stop anyone from entering or leaving the city." Some said they would advance as far as the moat, while others said they would climb the walls Another said he would what would give the king great pleasure and at the same time protect himself The king expressed his approval Then one of them said, "While they are thoroughly defeating the king, I shall make him watch me beat the women of the queen's retinue with a cudgel." When he heard this, the king said, "This perverted fellow intends to vanquish the weak," and taking a dislike to the soldier, treated him with contempt.2° Assertion: It is reasonable to get angry, since if one is patient, others may think one is incapable of retaliating and despise one Answer: It is not reasonable Whoever patiently tolerates a cause for anger will develop meditative stabilization on love and other kinds of meditation Even cultivating love for as short a time as it takes to milk a cow brings eight benefits The Precious Garland says: It is just foolish of you to claim you fear patience and give up the source of the above-mentioned virtues because of contempt regarding your ability to retaliate, for you destroy an excellent source of good qualities It is like someone who was embarrassed about abstaining from misdeeds A young man, born in a good family, met someone holy and gave up killing and so forth His stupid friends taunted him: "You don't hunt deer and if people with weapons came to fight with you, you'd run away You've become a girl Do you still have the marks of a man?" Being foolish, he felt embarrassed.26 Assertion: Since it is difficult for the powerful to bear being disparaged by inferiors, it is proper to punish them Answer: Who goes or has gone to the next world having completely put an end to his enemies by defeat and humiliation? Not even a few have done so By retaliating one creates ill deeds and will go to bad rebirths Therefore one should endure contempt, thinking it is preferable to the ill deeds created by subjugating one's enemies Through doing the former one will not go to bad rebirths but by doing ill deeds one will Just as there is no end to a water-wheel, there is none to disparagement either Since consciousness is produced in dependence on causes, it is a product Since products change from moment to moment, they not have inherent duration Their production and disintegration are therefore not inherently existent either One must abandon all disturbing emotions, understanding that the three realms are like an illusion, since production, disintegration, abiding and so forth not have inherent existence Disturbing emotions will never remain in the mind of any adept who understands that the production, disintegration, abiding and so forth of consciousness not have even an atom of real or inherent existence and who gains familiarity with this It is like uprooting a poisonous tree Thus by first gaining familiarity with the antidotes that overcome manifest disturbing emotions and eventually understanding dependent arising as devoid of inherent existence, one should rid oneself of all the seeds of disturbing emotions The summarizing stanza: This is the sixth chapter from the Four Hundred on the Yogic Deeds, showing the means to abandon disturbing emotions This concludes the commentary on the sixth chapter, showing the means to abandon disturbing emotions, from the Essence of Good Explanations, Explanation of the "Four Hundred on the Yogic Deeds of Bodhisattvas" COMMENTARY TO CHAPTER VI BY GESHE SONAM RINCHEN Disturbing emotions make the mind unruly When it is turbulent, perception is unclear, distortion occurs, and all kinds of problems follow When water is disturbed, nothing is reflected in it clearly and only a distorted image appears All disturbing emotions can be subsumed under the three poisons, which cover a diversity of feeling tones: desire/attachment, hostility/anger, and confusion/ignorance Unless we can free ourselves of even their latencies, they ... whatever the people on the other side of the River Sona2' did, the Teacher gave him permission to train them The Exalted Puma wanted to train the people of the country on the other side of the River... from the Four Hundred on the Yogic Deeds, showing the means to abandon disturbing emotions This concludes the commentary on the sixth chapter, showing the means to abandon disturbing emotions,... emotions, from the Essence of Good Explanations, Explanation of the "Four Hundred on the Yogic Deeds of Bodhisattvas" COMMENTARY TO CHAPTER VI BY GESHE SONAM RINCHEN Disturbing emotions make the mind