Twentieth This seems to contradict Nagarjuna’s statement that all phenomena are dependent-arisings, but Döl-bo-ba explains that it does not, first by showing that the ultimate is necessarily not impermanent and deceptive and then by indicating that Nāgārjuna’s reference is to all conventional phenomena, the noumenon. The mutuality of dependent-arising and emptiness has to be to self-emptiness, not other-emptiness.  The ultimate is other than lowly conventionalities, their otherness eliminating the possibility that the two truths are un-differentiable. Rather, an ultimate truth is not a conventional truth, and a conventional truth is not an ultimate truth. The two truths are different and are also not the same entity.  Hence, the two truths are neither one nor one entity. They are different, though not different entities, since that they are different merely means that they are not the same entity. Furthermore, though the two truths are different, their difference is not that conventionalities are appearances and their emptinesses are ultimate truths, since the ultimate also appears to pristine wisdom and since conventionalities are self-emptinesses.  Since the ultimate, although without the phenomena of cyclic existence, is replete with beneficial qualities, it is not a mere absence. In the Ocean of Definitive Meaning, Döl-bo-ba identifies the ultimate nine times as an affirming negative, something that indicates a positive in place of the negation; for instance: Similarly, those who assert that in the mode of subsistence, except for exclusions and non-affirming negatives, there are not at all any inclusions, positives, and affirming negatives are extremely mistaken because I have repeatedly explained and will explain that:  Natural exclusion, negation, and abandonment are complete in the mode of subsistence, since all flaws are naturally non-existent and non-established in the mode of subsistence. Natural realizations of the inclusionary, the positive, and affirming negatives are primordially complete [in the mode of subsistence], since all nominal qualities are naturally complete in their basis.  and because the master, the great scholar Jinaputra’s commentary on the Praise of the Three Jewels by the master Mātṛcheța also says: Therefore, the negative term “does nor

Nineteenth Two Truths Self-emptiness is not the ultimate truth, which is of a different order of being. Döl-bo-ba describes self-emptiness as meaning that phenomena that cannot withstand analysis and are subject to disintegration are empty of their own nature. All conventionalities are self-empty, or self-emptinesses-the two terms being used interchangeably-and thus self-emptiness is a conventionality, not the ultimate. The actual ultimate truth is able to bear analysis, is permanent, and is definitive. Thorough-going release is brought about through the wisdom of other-emptiness. Döl-bo-ba rejects the notion that the ultimate also could be self-empty, since then the ultimate would not exist at all. The mere finding that some phenomena are empty does not make all phenomena, such as the great liberation, also empty of themselves. The great liberation is empty of defects which are other than itself and do not exist in reality-but it itself is not empty of itself, just as a house is empty of humans but is not emptyof itself. The great liberation does not melt under examination; it can bear analysis. In this sense, other-emptiness, the thoroughly established nature, ultimately exists.  In Döl-bo-ba’s system the ultimate is true ultimately, and conventional truths are true conventionally. The body of the basic element of attributes exists in the dispositional mode of subsistence, but no conventionalities do. “Existing in the dispositional mode of subsistence” is the meaning of ultimately existing. Conversely, since other powered natures phenomena produced through the power of other causes and conditions are not the ultimate nature, they are empty of their own entities; they are selfs-empty,  they do not exist in the dispositional mode of subsistence. The ultimate is beyond the temporary nature of other-powered natures, which, like hail-stones, may appear solid but quickly disappear.  For Döl-bo-ba, dependent-arisings are limited to impermanent phenomena produced from causes and conditions, and, therefore, the ultimate cannot be a dependent-arising. Thus the ultimate truth-knowing itself by itself, devoid of the extremes of existence and non-existence-has a nature that is beyond the phenomena of dependent-arising, does not deteriorate from its own

 Eighteenth Those aggregates, constituents, and so forth-primordially devoid of obstruction, un differentiable, of equal taste, endowed with all noumenal aspects-are other than, supreme to, and transcendent over external and internal conventional aggregates, constituents, and so forth. other-emptiness means empty of the conventional, which themselves are empty of their own entities. However, it seems to me that conventional and noumenal aggregates, for instance, are not totally unrelated in that when the obstructions of afflictive conventionalities are removed, the noumenal versions are revealed.  Why the conventional are called “other” can be seen from Döl-bo-ba’s description of the difference between defilements and the basis of purification. The defilements to be purified and the basis of purification are different, and those also not just different isolates since they differ by way of an extremely great number of differences: because there is the difference of fabricated adventitious and natural fundamental and because there is the difference of conventional and ultimate and because there is the difference of phenomenon and noumenon and because there is the difference of extreme and centre and because there is the difference of other-arisen and selfarisen and because there is the difference of imputational other powered and noumenal thoroughly established and because there is the difference of consciousness and element of attributes and because there is the difference of mundane and supramundane and because there is the difference of suffering and bliss and because there is the difference of contaminated and uncontaminated and because there is the difference of incomplete and complete qualities of the body of attributes and because there is the difference of destructible and indestructible. and because there is the difference of destructible and indestructible. Based on the two purities, the otherness of the conventional and the ultimate is pronounced.

Seventh  “Forms and so forth. Why? Because of being the phenomena of apprehended-object and apprehending-subject.” This clears away the assertion by some that the meaning of being pure is to be empty of its respective entity because although all phenomena of apprehended-object and apprehending-subject, which have a nature of the two obstructions, are empty of their own respective entities, they are not pure. Consequently, with good differentiation to realise being and not being primordially naturally pure, it is necessary to realise the difference between the matrix-of-one-gone-to-bliss and adventitious defilements, and it is also necessary to realise well their modes of being empty. Though the noumenal versions of the six perfections and so forth abide without difference in buddhas and sentient beings, their attainment or non-attainment is due to having separated or not having separated from adventitious defilements upon having stopped or not having stopped the winds of the twelve time-cycles . The bifurcation of ultimate and conventional factors is clear.  In this way, the forms and so forth of the ultimate matrix-of-one-gone-to-bliss-attained through ceasing the continuum of the forms, and so forth, of adventitious defilements, which have an essence of impermanence, misery, emptiness, selflessness, impurity, ignorance, and so forth-are other than external and internal conventionalities. They are said to be essences of Vrasattva and Vajrapadma, vajra semen and particles, vajra moon and sun, vajra knower and known, vajra vowels and consonants, and so forth essences of the syllables exam, which is the primordially un differentiable mixture into one taste of the five immutable great emptinesses and the six immutable empty drops.

Thirteenth   Rather, the emptiness that is the [ultimate] nature of non-entities [that is, emptiness that is the ultimate nature opposite from non-entities] is required. Also, Vasubandhu’s Commentary on the “Extensive Mother,” the “Twenty-five Thousand Stanza Perfection of Wisdom Sutra,” and “Eighteen Thousand Stanza Perfection of Wisdom Sutra”calls the ultimate nature that is empty of adventitious imputations conventionalities and is opposite from conventionalities the nature of non-entities, and thereupon says that this is also the perfection of wisdom of the un-differentiable entity of basis and fruit. From this also, it is established that the profound emptiness that is a synonym of the ultimate noumenon is other-emptiness. Döl-bo-ba handles the many statements such as that (363): The element of attributes is empty of the element of attributes. Thusness is empty of thusness. The limit of reality is empty of the limit of reality. The inconceivable basic element is empty of the inconceivable basic element.by holding that they require interpretation, their purpose being to quiet conceptualization of the element of attributes and so forth as this or that. In this way the element of attributes is not empty of the element of attrib- utes. Since meditation on self-emptiness is not sufficient, he must handle the many statements that afflictive emotions are overcome through meditating on self-emptiness, such as  Objection: Aryadeva’s Lamp Compendium for Practice states: All ones-gone-thus possessing an essence of compassion seeing all sentient beings fallen into a whirlpool of suffering, without refuge, and without defender-cause those beings to purify afflictive emotions through thorough knowledge of the nature of afflictive emotions in a conventional manner, and cause them to be thoroughly set in meditative stabilisation having an essence of the mode of reality through having cleansed conventional truth also by means of ultimate truth.  and so forth. Does this not say that the entities of afflictive emotions are purified through knowledge itself that they are self-empty?  Answer: This is in consideration of temporarily suppressing or reducing the pointedness of coarse afflictive emotions because even.

Eleventh  He says that “subjects that cannot withstand analysis and finally disintegrate are empty of their own entities.” Self-empty phenomena do not appear to wisdom of reality, since they do not exist in the mode of subsistence. Conventional phenomena only provisionally exist in that they exist only for   consciousness, which is necessarily mistaken, and thus what appears to pristine wisdom does not appear to consciousness and what appears to consciousness does not appear to pristine wisdom. Hence, conventional phenomena do not appear to buddhas; even conventional buddha-qualities of body, speech, and mind do not appear to a buddha, being only for the sake of trainees to whom they appear.  Nevertheless, buddhas are omniscient, since they implicitly know the phenomena of cyclic existence, for when they explicitly know the ultimate, they implicitly know that these conventional phenomena do not exist. As he says: These three realms, which are appearances of ignorance, do not appear to the pristine wisdom of one awakened from the sleep of ignorance because these three realms are appearances of consciousness and whatever is consciousness is ignorance. The spheres of wisdom and consciousness are separate. Döl-bo-ba argues that if emptiness were only self-emptiness, then since self-emptiness would be thusness (the ultimate), all phenomena that are self-empty (and thus are self-emptiness) would themselves absurdly be thusness. He rubs in the point by elaborating that all of the following would absurdly be the ultimate. those with perverse attachment adventitious things changing into something else and again into something thing else.

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?

Part Seven Döl-bo-ba makes the distinction that while a person  is still a sentient being, the basis is obstructed by defilements, and when a person has become a Buddha, the basis has separated from defilement, Thus, a process of purification must take place before Buddha-hood can be attained. Although sentient beings already possess ultimate buddha-qualities, Dal-bo-ba avoids having to hold that ordinary sentient beings are alreadybuddhas by making distinctions between ultimate and conventional qualities  and between ultimate buddha and conventionalbuddha.Noumenal ultimate buddha and buddha-qualities are already integrally present in the noumenon, qualities must be attained. Through an elaborate, reasoned argument he directly addresses the issue of whether endowment with ultimate buddha-qualities would absurdly make ordinary sentient beings Buddhas, concluding that it does not . He does this by pointing out that buddha-qualities have negative and positive aspects, called qualities of whereas conventional buddha and conventional buddha-donment of defilements and qualities of realisation. To show that all beings are primordially endowed with a buddha’s body of attributes and yet need to attain their conventional manifestation he uses the vocabulary of: primordial abandonment and primordial realisation that are contained within the noumenon abandonment and realisation that are attained through practicing spiritual paths that serve as antidotes to defilements. Döl-bo-ba cites an example found in many sütras and treatises that aptly makes the point that the basis and fruit are the same and yet spiritual development  is required . An unknown treasure (basis) exists under the home of a poor person that must be uncovered (path) through removing obstructive dirt (defilements), yielding the treasure (fruit) that always was there. Just as the treasure already exists and thus requires no further fashioning, so the matrix-of-one-gone-thus, endowed with ultimate buddha qualities, already dwells within each sentient being and needs only to be freed from defilements. He thereby emphasizes that: The body of attributes of a buddha pre-exists within sentient beings. There are scriptures, reasonings, and also special quintessential instructions revealing the presence of this internal treasure, the matrix-of-one-gone-thus or matrix-of-one-gone-to-bliss. The practice of wisdom, along with