Mountain Doctrine
Part Eight It can be seen that, even though ultimate Buddha marks, beauties, and so forth exist intrinsically in the continuums of all sentient beings, they are obscured by ignorance and thus cannot perform the activities of a Buddha, which can be done only when conventional Buddha-qualities are attained. Thus, the un-differentiability of basis and fruit refers to the ultimate body of attributes that exists in all beings whether enlightened or not and does not refer to conventional form bodies, which are attended through practice of the path. Obiection: If the basis and the fruit are un-differentiable, what is the use of the path? Answer: Here also “un-differentiable entity of basis and fruit” is in terms of the ultimate body of attributes and not in terms of Conventional form bodies. Also, it is not that the path is not needed because: -the collection of pristine wisdom, which is the non-conceptual wisdom of meditative equipoise, acts to remove the defilements of the primordially abiding body of attributes and the collection of merit, which is endowed with the pristine wisdom of subsequent attainment realising (phenomena to be) illusion-like, generates communication bodies for the sake of others. On this basis, Döl-bo-ba cogently holds that those who claim that just be cause ultimate buddha qualities are present in a person, that person must be a Buddha, simply do not understand the difference between the presence or something and being that thing.something and being that thing. Therefore, the very many perverse challenges such as, “If buddha exists in sentient beings, all karmas, afflictive emotions, and sufferings would not exist,” and so forth, and “Sentient beings would realize all knowables,” and so forth are babble by those who do not know the difference between existence or presence] and being such and such. This is because exiStence, (that 1s, presence] does not establish being such and such.° If it did, then since explanations exist in humans, are humans explanations?