tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1835931418571721412.post3598107501465651135..comments2023-11-13T05:48:21.769+08:00Comments on Tantrismuskritik: What Is the Three Dharma-Seals About? (3)TK.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07949842293112639247noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1835931418571721412.post-68671578201782312152013-06-06T21:08:40.093+08:002013-06-06T21:08:40.093+08:00Here we can see that the Three Dharma-Seals actual...Here we can see that the Three Dharma-Seals actually describes two classes of dharma in the dharma-realm. <br /><br />These two kinds of dharma are entirely different from each other in nature, with one class being the dharma of an arising-and-ceasing nature and the other a neither-arising-nor-ceasing nature. The latter is nirvana, or the eighth vijnana Tathagatagarbha.<br /><br />The arising-and-ceasing dharma-seals are connected to the Four Noble Truths, in particular the truth of suffering. The truth of suffering means that everything within the three realms and the six paths of rebirth is afflicted with sufferings, which is why in the sound-hearer sutras, it is sometimes said that everything is suffering. <br /><br />As a matter of fact, all being suffering is sometimes regarded as the fourth dharma-seal in the Buddha dharma. The amount of the arising-and-ceasing dharmas can be increased ad infinitum or reduced all the way to zero. Hence, the arising-and-ceasing dharma-seals are like the arising-and-ceasing dharmas in that they can be increased or decreased. This is the type of arising-and-ceasing dharma-seals among the Three Dharma-Seals.<br /><br />The second type of dharma-seal is the dharma-seal of nirvana, which is a neither-arising-nor-ceasing and everlasting dharma. It is a unique dharma and one that is in a class of its own in the dharma-realm. Because of this, its quantity cannot be increased or decreased. <br /><br />The Three Dharma-Seals specially established by the Buddha is to confirm that the life of every sentient being is a dharma-seal. <br /><br />One part of every life is of an arising-and-ceasing nature whereas the other is neither-arising-nor-ceasing. The part that is neither-arising-nor-ceasing is the eighth vijnana Tathagatagarbha. The part of an arising-and-ceasing nature is our five aggregates because they undergo all kinds of changes. <br /><br />This is indeed the key difference between the Three Samadhis realized by sound-hearers and bodhisattvas: sound-hearers have realized that “all formations are impermanent” and “all dharmas are of no-self”; once they have extinguished these arising-and-ceasing dharmas, they are said to have realized nirvana, for they themselves will become a non-arising dharma in future lifetimes. This is not the case for bodhisattvas. <br /><br />When bodhisattvas realize the Three Dharma-Seals, they do so by means of directly realizing the eighth vijnana Tathagatagarbha along with the arising-and-ceasing dharmas. Therefore, their realization of the Three Dharma-Seals is more complete than that of the sound-hearers. (Part 4)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com