In the Samdhi Nirmacana Sutra, we hear the Buddha saying, paramartha-samudgata. I initially teach doctrines starting with a lack of own being in terms of production. to those beings who have not generated roots of virtue, who have not purified obstructions, who have not ripened their continuums, who do not have much conviction, and who have not completed the accumulation of the heart and wisdom.

[01:01]

Paramahansa Samadgata initially understands starting with the lack of one being in terms of productions. teaching doctrines about the other-dependent character of phenomena. Everything arises in dependence on things other than itself. So it does not have the own being of production, of producing itself and maintaining itself. This is what the Buddha said to beings who have not completed the accumulation of merit and wisdom. When they hear

[02:27]

those doctrines, they understand dependently originated, compounded phenomena, permanent. They know them to be phenomena which are unstable, unworthy of confidence, and changeable, whereupon they develop aversion, empathy, towards all compounded phenomena. When they attend to this teaching, they will partially be able to understand that all conditioned states, which are dependently co-arisen are impermanent, inconstant, not comforting, grievously transient and destructive, then their minds will produce deep dread and distestation for all conditioned states.

[03:58]

Once they have heard this, they are able, according to their capacity, to understand that all conditionally produced actions are impermanent, inconstant, and subject to change and degeneration or disintegration. Then they become wary of conditioned acts, and deeply disillusioned. They develop fear and discouragement regarding all compounded phenomena. This is an initial emotional response to letting the teachings of dependent co-arising deeply into your body and mind.

[05:19]

Other emotions besides those just mentioned, too. For example, when you start to feel disillusioned about things, you can get angry or hate them. Or you could say, OK, I'll be a hedonist, and I'll just go for whatever pleasure I can get. However, by listening to this teaching, you dread those reactions. You don't trust them. You're discouraged that they will help, too. So you just gradually stop reacting. to the discouragement and just be discouraged.

[06:38]

Compounded phenomena. However, there's a plus side that comes up right away. Having developed aversion, antipathy, deep dread, deep disillusionment, fear and discouragement, with regard to dependently co-arisen phenomena, transient phenomena, they turn away from wrongdoing. They do not do any wrongdoing and they adhere to virtue. Because of adhering to virtue, they generate roots of virtue which were not previously generated. They also purify obscurations that were not previously purified.

[07:48]

They also ripen continuums which were not previously ripened. On the basis of this, great conviction and they complete the accumulation of wisdom and merit. In this way, they complete everything from the generation of roots of virtue up to the accumulation of wisdom and merit. And as you know, the next part is, however, they do not understand the two aspects pertaining to the lack of own being in terms of production, which is the lack of own being in terms of character and the ultimate lack of own being.

[08:52]

So they are not wholly, completely, totally averse towards God. So they have to go on to learn about the next two characters, but you can see they come a long way by letting the teaching of dependent core rising. They go from having these undeveloped areas to having . They turn away from wrongdoing to virtue, and they go a long way. They also start to understand the possibility that all these conditioned states of misery, even misery is not worthy of confidence, is unstable, changeable. This teaching about the other dependent character, about the lack of confidence,

[09:59]

that production lack of own being can awaken a liberative concern, a concern to be liberated from all conditioned things through intimating to us the tenuousness and all-pervasive contingency of everything subject to causes and conditions, as well as to suggest the malleability of all caused phenomena. So first, this teaching stimulates the practitioners to reform their behavior through understanding this impact of causation, And second, it provides a base and a framework for understanding emptiness by teaching that the other dependent characters are the basis of the misimagination of the computational character.

[11:21]

and thus our basis for the thoroughly established character, which is the absence of the imputational character. How the teaching of the dependently co-arisen nature of all phenomena has sunk into us, I don't really know.

[12:24]

But perhaps it has, to some extent, sunk into this community. by hearing about it in reading of the sutra, and other... the demonstration of how all things are not worthy of confidence, all compounded things are not worthy of confidence, may be seeking in So there may be a feeling of discouragement. And there may be some old impetus to adjust compounded things so that you can not be discouraged about them.

[13:29]

fix them up somehow, to repair them so that there is confidence in them again. This is how the sutra talks about the teaching of this phase. And this is a basic teaching which... As we move into the next phase of the teaching, which is to look at how we are being encouraged to give up strongly adhering to the imagined as being the other dependent.

[14:38]

Giving up conceptual clinging and opening up to emptiness, this practice must continue. The practice of continually being mindful of this basic nature of phenomena must continue. This sets the emotional tone for the practice of emptiness. And in some of the Zen teachings which we may look at, and the sutra teachings, they don't necessarily mention this basic context, which is very simply living in the world of impermanence, living in a community of changing beings, of beings which are unworthy of confidence.

[15:48]

Just live close to such beings and the teaching is being presented to you. The more you hear this teaching, the less you become excessively involved with other beings, the less you become excessively involved in dependently co-arisen phenomena. If you notice that you're getting excessively involved with dependently co-arisen phenomena, It may be an indication that you're not listening to the teaching of the production lack of own being.

[16:53]

If you're listening again and are mindful of it, you may notice that the excess concern, the excess involvement starts to wane. And you start to meet things more uprightly. neither grasping nor rejecting. Again, this sets the base, this sets the context for giving up conceptual thought, for the dropping off of the mind. and equally penetrate every being.

[19:12]

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