he did not accept When he heard about it, the king decked him out in the queen's jewels and honored him Even if one does not attain nirvana in this life by knowing the reality of dependent arising free from extremes of elaboration, through familiarity with the understanding of suchness, one will certainly attain it effortlessly in a later life, merely by virtue of remaining in seclusion It is like an action performed out of ignorance, the effect of which will be experienced upon taking rebirth What intelligent person would not strive to understand suchness? It is like the following analogy: After eating a ripe mango, if you plant its stone, you'll get fruit later The Fundamental Treatise Called Wisdom says: Question: If there are many who understand suchness why does one not see people who are released from worldly existence? Answer: Though one does see some, mere intention does not create results The coming together of causes and conditions does, yet this is very rare The accomplishment, merely through intention, of actions that result as intended is extremely uncommon not only in the case of liberation but in all cases It is not that no one aspires to attain nirvana in the Buddha's teaching, but that causes and conditions - external conditions such as a spiritual friend, and internal ones such as the correct mental approach - very seldom combine and come together, which is why the released are rare The analogy of the Candala woman licking iron is as in Candrakirti's commentary Although a Candala woman was innocent of the theft of which she was accused, she said, "Because I am a Candala, I am low caste and must lick the iron by the temple," but she could not bear to so.' Had she done it, she would have been cleared of the suspicion that she had done wrong Similarly, some childish people consider themselves inferior and lack the patience to apply themselves to attaining Buddhahood If they applied themselves in the correct way they would undoubtedly attain enlightenment.26 Question: How can one be sure there is an end to this multitude of disturbing attitudes and emotions which have continued to occur for so long, since beginningless time? Answer: When the intelligent, who know how to think analytically, hear that the body lacks good qualities in that its nature is to disintegrate no matter how long it is cared for with all kinds of things, that it is ungrateful and difficult to nurture, their attachment to the body does not last long Similarly why should it not be possible to end all disturbing attitudes and emotions through the path that consists of meditating on dependent arising free from extremes of elaboration? Since one can certainly put an end to them, one will attain liberation It is like the following analogy: When Canaka made a little gold with the goldproducing elixir, he knew he could make a lot of gold this way and threw away the small piece On hearing that the body lacks good qualities the wise should discard attachment to it [and realizing that by means of this path they can stop all disturbing attitudes and emotions, they should gain familiarity with it.27] Question: How can the continuity of rebirths occurring since beginningless time come to an end? Answer: Although a seed, such as a barley seed, has no beginning, its end is seen when it is burnt by fire and the like Similarly the causes for birth in worldly existence are made incomplete by eliminating all conceptions of a personal self Thus through the strength of the antidote, rebirth in worldly existence due to contaminated actions and disturbing attitudes and emotions will not occur again It is like the following analogy: Once a butterlamp's fuel is exhausted it will not burn The Master Buddhapalita says: The deeds of Bodhisattvas, who are concerned with the welfare of sentient beings though they see that transmigrators not exist inherently, are most amazing Therefore, one should emulate them The summarizing stanza: This is the eighth chapter from the Four Hundred on the Yogic Deeds, on training the student This concludes the commentary on the eighth chapter, about thoroughly training the student, from Essence of Good Explanations, Explanation of the "Four Hundred on the Yogic Deeds of Bodhisattvas" COMMENTARY TO CHAPTER VIII BY GESHE SONAM RINCHEN Whenever one is teaching students of different aptitudes or is in a position to guide and encourage a particular student's gradual development, choosing appropriate topics and practices is of vital importance Ge-tsang (ke'u tshang),28 in his Channel for the Sea of the Clear Minded, Notes on the Short Exposition of the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment,29 mentions a story the great Atiga told when he came to Tibet which illustrates this Long ago in India the carcass of an elephant had been picked clean by big and small birds Only the skeleton covered by the hide remained, and inside this tent-like shelter a meditator gained insight into emptiness He became known as the Elephant-hide Meditator, and his fame spread One of India's religious kings invited him to his court Soon after his arrival, he began to teach the king about emptiness The king, however, thought he was denying the existence of ordinary selfevident things and decided he was a nihilist masquerading as a great Buddhist teacher Fearing that the laws he had enacted based on the ten virtues would not flourish among his subjects if he allowed such a teacher to remain there, he had him beheaded He then invited another teacher who at once informed him that he did not like sensual pleasures and doubted whether he and the king would see eye to eye, since the king indulged in them a great deal He began by explaining the faults in sense objects and gradually led the king toward higher insights Eventually he taught him about emptiness and the king understood the nature of reality Having done so, he felt enormous remorse for having killed his former teacher and made great efforts to purify this ill deed One night the Elephant-hide Meditator appeared in a dream He told the king to go to where the hide still was and to paint a picture of him on it He was then to acknowledge his wrongdoing until he received signs of purification Both teachers had understood emptiness but one was a competent teacher while the other was not The skillful one was able to help while the other, who lacked skill, caused harm It is equally important to try to understand our own disposition and aptitudes as well as possible, and to seek teaching and choose practices for which we have a natural inclination If we not as sess our abilities and our stage of development honestly, we may embark on practices that are too advanced Then, when we not achieve the insights and experiences that these practices are intended to induce, we will feel disappointed and give up When we undertake a practice, it should not be out of competitiveness or the wish to what others are doing, but from a sense of personal conviction In order to experience the benefits of any practice, we should approach it in a relaxed and gentle way, without forcing it Regular and moderate practice is more valuable than sporadic bursts of intense practice, which are often followed by apathy or even antipathy When we throw a pile of dry twigs on the fire, it flares and bums brightly for a short time and then dies down A log does not ignite quickly, but once it does the fire grows hotter gradually and keeps burning for a long time Chapter IX Refuting Permanent Functional Phenomena Explaining the stages of the paths dependent on ultimate truth has two parts The first is an extensive explanation of ultimate truth The second shows the purpose of writing these chapters and how to meditate on settling [the procedure between] teachers and students by way of eliminating remaining counter-arguments The extensive explanation of ultimate truth begins with a general refutation of true existence by refuting permanent functional phenomena This is followed by refuting truly existent functional phenomena individually Finally the inherent existence of production, duration and disintegration, the characteristics of products, is refuted GENERAL REFUTATION OF TRUE EXISTENCE By cleansing the mindstream with the flowing water of means by which to understand suchness, the previous chapters have made it a vessel fit for the nectar of suchness The remaining chapters will explain how products which arise and disintegrate not have even the slightest essence of inherent existence In the world it is accepted that when a laborer works hard for his wage, it is for the result and not because it is his nature to so Similarly all external and internal functional phenomena' not arise of their own accord Since they are produced solely through a multifarious aggregation of factors consisting of interrelated causes and effects, functional things are produced for their effects.' They therefore are not permanent, inherently produced or truly existent They not have an essence able to sustain analysis, nor they exist as things in and of themselves Only Subduers, because they have the abilities of perfected body, speech and mind, directly know impermanence, emptiness and all things without exception as they are Since no one else does, there are no other Tathagatas Moreover the Teacher said, "Whatever is produced inevitably ceases, for aging and death are conditioned by birth." Thus, since production is for the sake of disintegration, ... should emulate them The summarizing stanza: This is the eighth chapter from the Four Hundred on the Yogic Deeds, on training the student This concludes the commentary on the eighth chapter, about... training the student, from Essence of Good Explanations, Explanation of the "Four Hundred on the Yogic Deeds of Bodhisattvas" COMMENTARY TO CHAPTER VIII BY GESHE SONAM RINCHEN Whenever one is teaching... emotions through the path that consists of meditating on dependent arising free from extremes of elaboration? Since one can certainly put an end to them, one will attain liberation It is like the