..续本文上一页ture, then one sees that nobody – not even oneself - is better than anyone else. This fault is also eradicated through these teachings.

　　Rangjung Dorje gave us these teachings so that we enter into sympathy through the act of beneficent communication of awareness and conscientiousness.

　　8. Thirty-Two Unsurpassable Qualities of the Dharmakaya

　　Rangjung Dorje described the qualities of the Buddha nature in general and continued with the qualities of the unsurpassable dharmakaya in particular. He defined the virtuous qualities of the three kayas precisely in The Tathagatagarbhashastra.

　　Its unceasing manifestation

　　(Is taught) to have sixty-four qualities,

　　Though that is (just) a simplified description.

　　It is said that each of the sixty-four has millions (of qualities).

　　The Buddha nature unremittingly manifests sixty-four invaluable qualities, a condensed number in comparison to the real. Actually, each quality has millions. In general, the sixty-four are pided into those of the dharmakaya and those of the two rupakayas. Rangjung Dorje elaborated the thirty-two unsurpassable qualities of the dharmakaya.

　　The dharmakaya has thirty-two precious qualities, which are of the mind. They are defined as the ten strengths, the four types of fearlessness, and the eighteen distinct qualities of a Buddha only.

　　The ten strengths

　　There are the ten strengths:

　　(1) the knowledge of appropriate and inappropriate actions;

　　(2) the knowledge of the ripening of karma, (3) of natures,

　　(4) aptitudes and (5) aspirations;

　　(6) the knowledge of the destinations of all paths, (7) (the possession) of dhyana,

　　(8) pine sight, (9) the memory of previous lives, and (10) peace.

　　The ten strengths or powers are great abilities. They cannot be vanquished by anything. In The Uttaratantrashastra, Natha Maitreya likened them to an indestructible vajra in that they dispel one”s own and other”s ignorance and misunderstandings. That is the reason why they are so powerful. The ten strengths arise from having developed Bodhicitta, from having held the Bodhicitta commitments, and from having become a Bodhisattva. Bodhicitta is the genuine and precious motivation to attain the state of a Buddha for the welfare of all beings living in the vast expanse of space. It is pided into relative and absolute Bodhicitta. Relative Bodhicitta consists of the precepts of aspiration and the precepts of practice. Absolute Bodhicitta is identical with our true being, the Buddha nature. I have explained the etymology of the term bodhi in the section on homages. Citta is “mind,” so Bodhicitta means “the precious mind of awakening.” Let us look at each of the ten strengths of the perfectly established mind of awakening.

　　(1) Knowledge of appropriate and inappropriate actions is the first strength, which understands that certain causes bring on specific results. It is thorough knowledge of the interconnectedness between causes and results.

　　(2) Knowledge of the ripening of karma is the second strength, which means knowing the results that ripen from actions. It is perfect foresight of the ripening of karma.

　　Sometimes four types of karma are discussed:

　　- karma that will be seen, i.e., the result of an action will be experienced in the very same lifetime that the action was performed.

　　- There is karma that will be experienced in the following lifetime, and

　　- karma that will be experienced after a number of lifetimes.

　　- Furthermore, there is weak karma that need not be experienced, if and only if it has been purified through practice.

　　Sometimes two types of karma are explained:

　　- Karma of initial impetus leads to rebirth in specific circumstances and situations and

　　- karma of completion is all conditions of one”s present life.

　　Ther…

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