The Sage’s Intent by Sakya Pandita

An oral commentary by His Holiness the 42nd Sakya Trizin

The Lord Buddha turned the wheel of Dharma by giving an enormous amount of teachings to suit the different mentalities of his followers, and so we are blessed with many kinds of teachings, authentic teachings. We can combine all these teachings into two yanas, the Mahayana and the Hinayana. The Mahayana teachings themselves fall into two categories, which are known as the Cause Paramitayana and the Result Vajrayana. This particular teaching by Sakya Pandita belongs to the Mahayana and, more precisely, to the Cause Paramitayana. 

The basic teachings of Sutrayana contained in the Cause Paramitayana, including this teaching, are of great importance and form the basis of the Vajrayana practice. This teaching is actually a complete path to Buddhahood according to the Cause Paramitayana teachings. 

So, as always, before receiving the teachings on this text, it is important that we develop the correct motivation, which means the thought of renunciation towards all of samsara, infinite loving-kindness, infinite compassion, and wishing and engaging bodhicitta. It is with such right motivation that we should receive this teaching. I myself need to develop the right motivation to teach, and you need to develop the right motivation to receive the teaching. 

This teaching is based on the text known in Tibetan as thub pa'i dgongs pa rab tu gsal ba. Thub pa'i dgongs pa means the Sage’s Intent, or the Buddha’s Intent – here ‘Sage’ refers to the Buddha – and the text encompasses all the teachings of the Buddha. It is based principally on the Mahayana or Cause Paramitayana teachings. 

Although we have faith in and devotion to the Buddha, and we believe in his teachings, we cannot directly understand their deep and profound meaning, and so we need the help of commentaries drawn up by illuminators who have a thorough understanding of their content. 

So normally, when we study the Buddha’s teachings, we study them through texts composed by great followers of the Buddha that are based on his teachings. We don’t study the teachings of Lord Buddha directly. We study them through commentaries that were composed by great followers of the Buddha, great beings, especially those of India and Tibet. The Sage’s Intent is such a commentary, and rab tu gsal ba means illuminating or clarifying the Buddha’s teaching, or the meaning of the Buddha’s teachings. 

Not every Buddhist or every follower of the Buddha can illuminate or clarify the meaning of the Buddha’s teachings. Only those noble ones or highly realised beings can understand the meaning of Lord Buddha’s teachings directly. It is very important to respect highly realised beings. Even nowadays, if one claims to be a scholar and then criticises Nagarjuna or any of the great past masters of India or of Tibet, this is not right. If a modern scholar criticises Nagarjuna, it seems to me that this person is criticising Buddha’s teachings themselves, because there is no doubt that Nagarjuna’s teachings are in accordance with the Buddha’s teachings. There is no doubt about this. 

It doesn’t seem right that someone who claims to be a scholar should criticise any of the great masters of the past. The Buddha gave us license to analyse, to investigate, to inspect his teachings, the Buddha himself told us not to believe merely out of faith. But at the same time, great scholars like Nagarjuna never pronounced anything without previous profound analysis and thorough logical reasoning. Only after exhaustive investigation and meticulous analysis did these scholars expound teachings on what the Buddha taught. And so, if we study the Buddha’s teachings and understand them differently from what is expounded by Nagarjuna, I venture to say that we are mistaken in our understanding. 

In short, the most important thing is that we need to rely on authentic teachings in order to practise Buddhism. Whether a teaching is authentic or not depends on whether it is based on the Lord Buddha’s teachings, and in no way contradictory to them. It is important that we ascertain which are the authentic teachings, either by consulting with others or by scrutinising the teachings ourselves. 

It is also important that our motivation be authentic and genuine. We should not learn these profound teachings merely to acquire knowledge, merely to understand their meaning in order to become a scholar or a teacher. If our motivation is based on this, it is not right because it represents attachment to this life. Of course, it is good if we become a teacher, but it shouldn’t be our principal goal, our principal ambition. Our main ambition should be to attain Buddhahood for the sake of all sentient beings. This should be our main goal, our ultimate goal. And so, our motivation to learn and share these profound teachings should be pure, and it should be based on loving-kindness, compassion and bodhicitta. 

Today we are learning the text Clarifying The Sage’s Intent, also known as Illuminating the Sage’s Intent. The title refers to the fact that Sakya Pandita explains the teaching with great clarity, and makes it easy for all to understand it.

In Buddhist literature, it is customary for an author to begin his work by paying homage. Here, Sakya Pandita pays homage and performs prostrations to Manjushri as well to bodhicitta, which is the source of Buddhahood and without which we cannot become a Buddha. 

The purpose of composing this text is to benefit sentient beings. Whatever we do, we should do for the sake of others, for the sake of infinite beings. And so Sakya Pandita’s purpose in composing and teaching this text is the benefit of all sentient beings. 

He sets out to explain the process of the Buddhist Path, which leads to Buddhahood. He states that this process comprises seven main topics. The first among these is the alaya consciousness. 

There are different types of consciousness. In this case, Sakya Pandita is not referring to sensory consciousness, or mental consciousness, or defilements consciousness. Rather, he is referring to the alaya consciousness. 

The reality of alaya consciousness is emptiness, in other words, the ultimate view, or the state that is free from all extremes. Alaya consciousness is not a thought. It doesn't have subject or object. It is neither virtuous nor non-virtuous. Generally, virtuous and non-virtuous thoughts include subject and object. But the alaya is free from subject and object, and it is not associated with either virtue or non-virtue. Loving-kindness and compassion are thoughts, positive thoughts. Although they are virtues, they are still thoughts. They presuppose subject and object. The subject is positive thought and the object is all sentient beings. So loving-kindness and compassion, as well as aspiring and engaging bodhicitta, involve thoughts, and so they are defined by subject and object. Similarly, defilements such as anger and attachment, are associated with thoughts, and along with these, subject and object. The alaya is different from this. It has neither subject nor object – one might say that it’s an inner consciousness, it’s a consciousness that doesn’t project outwards. 

There are two differing views among Vajrayana practitioners regarding the alaya. One view, mainly held by the Sauthantika school of thought, affirms the existence of the alaya within relative truth, and the other view refutes it. Our school adheres to the first of these two views, but our view differs somewhat from that of the Sauthantikas, who affirm that the alaya is truly existent. We accept the alaya, but we do not believe it to be truly existent. 

The concept of alaya is not only important to followers of the Mahayana tradition. It is equally so to the followers of Vajrayana who believe in it. Without the concept of alaya, there is no consciousness that continues from previous lifetimes, through the current one, to future ones. 

Followers of the Vajrayana tradition who accept the alaya, believe that it is what makes a connection between sentient beings and the Buddha. Here Buddha refers to the Buddha within us, the Buddha that we will all eventually become in the future. 

The alaya is always there, even when we lose consciousness, or even when we die. When this happens, our sensory consciousness and our mental consciousness cease, but the alaya never ceases. It is there continually from when we are sentient beings until we become Buddhas. 

Although the alaya consciousness changes from moment to moment, the continuity of the alaya consciousness is unceasing. Much like a waterfall, which we can observe seemingly unchanging through years, decades, even centuries. Even though it seems not to undergo any changes throughout all this time, it is in actuality continually changing. It is never the same water that is falling. In the same way, the alaya consciousness is always there, unchanging, while one lifetime follows another and one moment of consciousness follows another. 

The main cause of a present moment of consciousness is the previous moment of consciousness. Other factors are not the main cause of consciousness, including outer elements. Likewise, the main cause of the next moment of consciousness is the present one. This continuity never stops, it persists even when we die. There will be a life after this one, just as there was one before it. 

And because of this unceasing alaya, we have the hope and possibility of attaining Buddhahood. And also because of the alaya, we can say that there is a cause and effect relationship between our present consciousness and the consciousness that we will have when we become a Buddha. If these two states of consciousness were two different mental continua, then this would leave no space for cause and effect or for the law of karma, and we couldn’t obtain the result of Buddhahood. 

The word for alaya in Tibetan is künshi, which means ‘all-base’. The alaya is the base of all samsaric phenomena and of all nirmanic phenomena. It is the base of these phenomena, but it is not their cause, nor does it generate them. 

Everything is based on the alaya consciousness, everything depends on it, including the other kinds of consciousness like the six sensory consciousnesses and the defilement consciousness. Without the alaya consciousness, there is no other consciousness, no physical body, no speech, no action, nothing. The alaya is the base of all positive and negative actions of all samsaric and nirmanic phenomena. 

And alaya consciousness is none other than Buddha nature. It has two facets, known as natural alaya and developed alaya, or natural Buddha nature and developed Buddha nature. In Tibetan, we call it rig, which is translated literally as ‘race’, but really refers to Buddha nature. 

Natural Buddha nature refers to the alaya that is devoid of self-nature, that is in reality emptiness, free from all extremes. In other words, it is non-dual and inseparable from the ultimate view. And it is because of this Buddha nature that every sentient being has the chance of becoming a Buddha. 

The second kind of ‘race’ is developed Buddha nature. It refers to the alaya consciousness that we experience when we’re on the path, when we are practising the dharma. So before we enter the Buddhist path, we have natural Buddha nature, but once we embark on the path, we have developed Buddha nature, which is sealed by the practice of the Buddha’s teachings. Our natural Buddha nature has been awakened by the practice of the Buddha Dharma. 

There are four signs to indicate that this change has occurred. These are the inherent compassion that has been awakened by our practice, faith in the three jewels, patience in the face of harm inflicted upon us by others, and a natural inclination to performing virtuous deeds. 

There are also four impediments to the awakening of Buddha nature within us. These are the product of our defilements, our actions driven by afflicting emotions. As a result of these impediments, the propensity to practise dharma does not arise. An example of these impediments is the lack of virtue conducive to enlightenment. 

These impediments, however, do not form part of the alaya, which is free from thought, subject and object, and defilements, and which is pure from beginningless time. It can be stained by defilements, but these are not in its nature. They are temporary, adventitious. And so, if we adopt the right remedy, the right antidote, there is no doubt that we can purify these defilements and free our mind from them. 

The alaya consciousness is pure, and it exists within every sentient being. And so every sentient being has the potential to become a Buddha, but only if the right method is met. A seed of barley won’t grow into a plant if we place it in a dry box and deprive it of soil, water and light. Although it has the potential to become a plant, it won’t do so if we don’t provide it with the right conditions. Similarly, our Buddha nature won’t evolve into the Buddha if the right conditions are not met with. Meeting with the right conditions is indispensable to becoming a Buddha. 

As an example, if a white cloth is stained with dirt, the dirt is not in the nature of the cloth. It is only temporary, and if we use the right method, like soap and water, then there is no doubt that we can remove the dirt from the cloth. Similarly, our alaya consciousness is pure from the beginning, and defilements are not in its nature. The defilements are like the dirt on the cloth. If we adopt the right method, there is no doubt that we can remove the dirt-like defilements from our pure mind. 

Buddha nature is very important. It is one of the main teachings of the Buddha. Without it, we cannot progress on the path, nor can we practise properly. Also, without Buddha nature, without the alaya, there is no space for the law of karma. In order to believe in the law of karma, we need to believe in rebirth. And without the law of karma, we cannot say that by performing good deeds in this life, we will obtain good results in the next life, nor can we say that by performing negative deeds in this life, we will obtain negative results in the next life. So we cannot talk about cause and effect or about the law of karma if we don’t believe in rebirth, and we cannot believe in rebirth if we don’t believe in the alaya. 

Because we have Buddha nature, we can practise and progress on the path and eventually attain Buddhahood. There are different stages on the path, such as the stage before we actually engage on the path, the stage when we are pursuing it, and the stage when we attain the result, when we become a Buddha. These three stages are linked by the alaya, which is present throughout but doesn’t itself change with each stage. They are linked by the continuity of the alaya consciousness. 

The nature of the alaya consciousness itself never changes – it is the non-duality of awareness and emptiness. Much like molten copper or bronze, which retains its same nature whether we cast it into a dustbin, a necklace or a Buddha statue, the alaya consciousness retains its nature and remains unchanged throughout the three stages, even though it takes on different appearances.