Report on the recollections of students attending the Three Years and Three Moons Teaching of Prajna Paramita at the Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey) Ltd. from Versak 1999 to Versak 2002 as taught by Master John D. Hughes Dip.App.Chem.T.T.T.C. GDAIE. whose Buddha Dhamma name is Sariputta.
By Jason M. Glasson B.A (Hons.)
Table of Contents
Background
Wisdom insights
Law of Causes and Effects
Mind
Emptiness/Not-self
General Wisdom Insights
Compassion insights
On Tuesday 16 February 1999 Venerable Sariputta commenced the Prajna Paramita teachings for a period of three years and three moons, concluding on 21 May 2002 when the Mandala of Prajna Paramita was shut.
Venerable Sariputta advised the students to write 2000 to 4000 words to record what they learnt during the Prajna Paramita Teachings. This paper is a report on those recollections.
This paper in no way claims to be a guide to the Teachings given, and the author humbly apologises for any errors, omissions or inconsistencies.
The author requests that students wishing to learn Prajna Paramita should refer to and cite the Prajna Paramita texts and have a teacher to guide them.
The author wishes to express gratitude to Venerable Sariputta, as being entrusted with preparing and presenting this report is a blessing. The author wishes also to express gratitude to Guru Sariputta for the vast amounts of merit he used, as well as providing a suitable environment and resources, so that students may benefit from the Prajna Paramita teachings.
The merit of presenting this paper is dedicated to all present and future students of the Buddha Dhamma.
May this gift of merits help all beings
know the path
realize the path
follow the path
May this gift of merits help all beings
know the path
realize the path
follow the path
May this gift of merits help all beings
know the path
realize the path
follow the path
Om Namo Tassa Bhagavato Arahato Sammasambuddhassa
Om Namo Tassa Bhagavato Arahato Sammasambuddhassa
Om Namo Tassa Bhagavato Arahato Sammasambuddhassa
Om Namo Bhagavatyai Aryaprajnaparamitaya
Om Namo Bhagavatyai Aryaprajnaparamitaya
Om Namo Bhagavatyai Aryaprajnaparamitaya
Panatipata Veramani Sikkhapadam Samadiyami
Adinnadana Veramani Sikkhapadam Samadiyami
Kamesu Micchacara Veramani Sikkhapadam Samadiyami
Musavada Veramani Sikkhapadam Samadiyami
Suramerayamajjapamadatthana Veramani Sikkhapadam Samadiyami
Buddham Saranam Gacchami
Dhammam Saranam Gacchami
Sangham Saranam Gacchami
Dutiyampi Buddham Saranam Gacchami
Dutiyampi Dhammam Saranam Gacchami
Dutiyampi Sangham Saranam Gacchami
Tatiyampi Buddham Saranam Gacchami
Tatiyampi Dhammam Saranam Gacchami
Tatiyampi Sangham Saranam Gacchami
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Background
The student ought to request to be taught in a generous manner. The Buddha Dhamma Teacher does not wish to teach any being that has not made the request to be taught free of doubt. Without confidence (in Pali, Saddha) there will be little learning.
The female deity Prajna Paramita is often described as "the mother of all Buddhas".
Prajna Paramita means the Perfection of Wisdom. In heaven worlds, beings have functional names.
In this respect, the Sanskrit term Prajna Paramita, usually translated in English as the Perfection of Wisdom, will be used to refer to both the deity Prajna Paramita and the Teachings of the Perfection of Wisdom held by the deity.
In the beginning, the student requested to be taught Prajna Paramita by our Teacher. In later practice, a direct request was made to the Deity and Her Retinue to help.
The Prajna Paramita text recommended by our Teacher is titled: The large Sutra On Perfect Wisdom With The Division Of The Abhisamayalankara, translated from the Sanskrit and edited by Edward Conze, 1979, ISBN: 81-208-0752-9, Delhi, Publishers: Motilal Banarsidass 42 U.A. Bungalow Road, Jawahar Nagar, Delhi, 110 007, India.
The original substance of the Prajna Paramita texts were delivered on a platform provided by the Dragon King.
The Sutra was spoken in seven places and in nine assemblies. This verse facilitates remembering those places and assemblies:
“The first was in the Bodhi field;
The ninth in the Jeta Grove;
The third and fourth in the Trayastrimsha and Suyama Heavens;
The second, seventh and eighth were held in the Universal Light Palaces;
The fifth and sixth took place in the Tushita and Paranirmitavashavartin Heavens”.
Some of the Teachings were by way of commentaries beyond textual transmission. The Teacher is the shower of the way. The Teachers help us to access and learn the Prajna Paramita teachings. Our Teacher recommends that we read the text with our best minds.
Our Teacher guided us to take refuge in the Buddha Dhamma and Sangha, to take Five Precepts and request to be taught before the Teachings. These practices bring us into the present and prepare the mind to be taught. The students are requesting to be taught how to course in perfect wisdom.
Student Insights
20 recollections were presented to Guru Sariputta. The recollections are written in a variety of styles and show a great variety of insights. Many chose to report positive personal experience of the teachings. Others, by contrast, contain no personal reflections and are reports of the teachings as they were given.
Where no personal information is conveyed, it is difficult to determine the influence of the teachings. It should be emphasised, however, that to know what insights the students gained on the basis of the recollection alone is neither possible nor desirable.
Some more general observations may still be made regarding recollections where no personal information is given. During the teachings, students learnt that a Prajna Paramita practitioner practices: to recognise blessings, cherish blessings, cultivate blessings and constantly sow the seeds for blessings. Respect and gratitude are very clearly evident in the wording of the recollections, indicating that the teachings are recognised and cherished as blessings. This recognition of blessings is itself wisdom into the nature of Reality because if the student did not know to at least some extent the truth of dependent origination, the student would in all likelihood not treat the teachings as a very positive cause (blessing). Further, as indicated above, students were guided to come to understand the importance of preparing their minds before the teachings. The ability to recall the teachings and present them to Guru Sariputta, even without detailing their personal effect, requires considerable merit and a properly prepared mind, as did attending the teachings for the entire three years and three moons cycle.
In the majority of recollections students make at least salutations to the Buddha and/or Prajna Paramita. A number pay further homage, take refuge in the Triple Gem, include the Five Precepts and make a request to be taught, indicating understanding of the importance of respect, taking refuge, establishing a morality base and establishing a mind that can learn, as taught by Guru Sariputta. Five persons explicitly commit to chant the Vandana for Buddha three times and the three Refuges twice each day for the rest of their lives. Several others express commitment to the Bodhisattva path and the Prajna Paramita teachings in particular (see below), and although the commitment to chant is not explicitly made, such a commitment may be taken as given by this more general commitment.
The two indivisible aspects of the path to liberation are Wisdom and Compassion. Each particular insight aligns more closely with one of these aspects than the other, and this is the framework used below to present these insights. Insights related to Wisdom are presented first, followed by insights related to Compassion. Please note that this division is employed purely for the purposes of clearly presenting the insights, and is in no way meant to suggest that the presence of one type of insight in any way indicates the absence of the other type of insight.
In seeking to summarise the recollections, which are in themselves summaries of the insights gained during three years and three moons of teachings, the author has had to be selective and on occasion has had to make a personal interpretation of what was recollected. Accordingly, the author humbly apologises to those who have presented recollections for any errors or omissions made in presenting this report.
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Wisdom insights
The students of Prajna Paramita were requesting to be taught how to course in Perfect Wisdom by Guru Sariputta. To course in the Perfection of Wisdom is to view all dhammas as inherently empty. That is, “to wake up and see things as they are”. Thus the insights presented in this section are those that encompass any insight into reality, rather than insight into emptiness per se. These insights will be further divided into: Law of Causes and Effects, Mind, Emptiness/Not-self and General Wisdom Insights.
As students have not explicitly agreed to their recollections becoming public, the names of the students are not used. Instead, students are referred to as Student A, Student B, and so on.
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Law of Causes and Effects
The insight that students report most often is that of the Law of Causes and Effects, particularly the importance of creating merit so as to be able to learn in future. Some examples of this insight are given below:
Student A wrote:
“Because of millions of good causes made in the past on 29 April 2002, I was able to assist my Teacher and his consort Anita in the construction of a physical mandala for the celebration of Anita’s 41st Birth Anniversary on 4 May 2002.”
“Toward the concluding teachings I came to understand the importance of developing scholarship and to create the good causes this life for reading, writing and learning in the future”. This insight is supported by the student’s practical application of it in being a member of the writing and editing team for the Buddhist Hour Broadcast and being an Assistant Editor of the Brooking Street Bugle (new series).
“The Buddha Dhamma chanting maintains open the link between the heaven and earth for the student, sharing the merits of the chanting with the Devas and Devatas who come for the chanting…[W]henever the student chants, and it is their volition, the strength of their request to be taught and learn the Prajna paramita (sic), the making and sharing merit through Dhamma Dana to the Buddha, Prajna Paramita, her retinue and all the Deities who help, the Mahasangha, and the respect and devotion shown to your teacher for teaching the Prajna Paramita which create the conditions for each student to chant keep the window of Prajna Paramita teaching open for himself of (sic) herself.”
“An example of not enough offerings was starting a file of my studies on a PC at the Centre in a high mind, and then when seeking to open it again a day or so later, not having the merit or high order mind to be able to access the file, which had become corrupted. This was [due to] a lack of offerings to the Prajna Paramita and the Devas who protect our IT systems and information files.”
Student C wrote:
“To my understanding, the Prajna Paramita is the perfection of wisdom. It is therefore perfecting a knowledge management system. Managing this knowledge well will facilitate the preconditions for enabling persons to acquire a vast amount of information in a flash.”
“For persons to follow the Dhamma teachings and benefit from the effects of these teachings, they need first to create the causes…Creating the causes and doing so in a positive way will eradicate the less positive aspects of life. Negativity and lack of self confidence erodes the ability of persons to achieve perfect wisdom.”
Student G wrote:
Without the “blessings and supreme generosity” of Prajnaparamita and retinue, Guru Sariputta and the Maha Bodhisattvas “I would not have received some understanding of this immense and truly sublime teaching.”
“Cause and effect is the essence of the Buddhas (sic) Teachings and in the Prajnaparamita it is enlightened through examples of both cause and effect.”
“May I put in the right causes to hear and practice the Buddha Dhamma.
May I put in the right causes to hear and practice the Prajnaparamita.
May I meet with Noble Beings
May I course on the path of the Bodhisattva”
Student H wrote:
“I understand that in order to practice Buddha Dhamma, I need to make a vast amount of merit every day just to be able to go to the Temple and help the Teacher. I make merit by offering flowers when I visit the temple and offering food, written Dhamma, clothing, my time, money, incence, jewelry, medicine and many other things so that I have the causes to learn and the requisites for learning”
“I have to make merit every day and create the causes to meet with John D. Hughes and Anita so that I can continue to learn and practice Buddha Dhamma. It is only because of the kindness of the Teacher that I can get a small glimpse at the teachings and make the merit at our Centre to practice and learn the Perfection of Wisdom”
Student I wrote:
“With the kindness and assistance of my teachers I will make merit to guard the mind, to uplift myself from the my lower self, to strive for perfect self control and abide in the truth of the Dhamma.”
Student J wrote:
“Correct conditions for learning must always be checked in the present. Otherwise it is just ritual. For example the teacher taught that the water for offerings to the Buddha Dharma and Sangha was no longer suitable to be used out of the tap therefore should be boiled firstly. As this experience was felt at the teaching, this was implemented at home with experiential improvements in water offerings. Which made the home environment brighter and more suitable for practice”
Student L wrote:
“The Path [to Enlightenment as presented in the text “The Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment” by Atisha] is arranged in such a way that there is a sequence to the way in which they should be practiced. Enlightenment does not come about with no cause. Causes are not discordant from results, causes [are] commensurate with results. HH 14 the Dalai Lama – Rod Laver Arena 20 May 2002 – the Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment.”
Student M wrote:
“[T]o continue to study the Prajna Paramita, we must make more merit directly related to the cause of existence of these texts”
To illustrate the importance of making merit directly related to causes, Student M states that “the major force that revolutionised the worlds was the seven times that the Dragon King organised the locations of where the Prajna Paramita could be taught by Lord Buddha.” Hence the efficacy of offerings to the Dragon King. Student M gives several examples of these offerings:
“[S]ince 1970, we have been doing offerings to the Dragon King at the Nobbies, Philip Island. When our Teacher John D. Hughes was in mainland China many years ago, he did offerings to the Dragon King at the Yellow River. At another time, when he was flying near Indonesia, he did offerings to the Dragon King”.
“It is rare to meet with the Prajnaparamita Teachings. According to the Prajna Paramita text, even if we meet a Teacher, if there is a severe mismatch between Teacher and pupil it is not conducive for learning. It is a great opportunity that I have come to meet with the Prajna Paramita Teachings this life, and thus improve my life.”
Student N wrote:
“If [Student N] …chants every morning and evening for the rest of her life, she will continue to have access to Prajna Paramita even after the closing of this teaching round on 21 May 2002”
“It is the Bodhisattva vows made by…[Student N] that are the causes for her to keep coming back”
Student N has “started to create the causes to live in Yidam form and to meet her partner again and again. [Student N]…will continue to make causes in this life to meet her partner again in her future lives”
“[Student N]…has learned to free herself from having a death wish. Not wanting to be is suffering just as wanting to be is suffering.
All suffering comes from not understanding.”
“One of the tasks of White Tara is to look after the history of Buddha Dhamma.
In the technology age, much information is stored digitally. …[Student N] learned how to set up Buddha Dhamma websites and dedicated them to her Teacher. Much merit was gained by doing this.”
Student N “will continue to make the merit needed and increase her merit making significantly.”
“May [Student N] …have made the causes to remember Prajna Paramita.”
Student O wrote:
“I vow to make sufficient offerings and gain merit to be able to remember Prajna Paramita. Ignorance is not remembering.”
“Through hearing the Prajna Paramita Teachings and studying the Prajna Paramita texts I vow to put into action wholesome causes to come out of suffering and have rebirths that will enable me to tell other teachable beings about the Buddha Dhamma.”
“May the merit gained by Master John D. Hughes’ (sic) strengthen his practice, health and well being so that he may continue to benefit many beings this life and lives to come.”
Student Q wrote:
“The Dragon King prepared a suitable environment for Buddha to Teach Prajna Paramita. Venerable Sariputta has established a Geology Museum and an image of the Dragon King. By these actions of Venerable Sariputta he is helping beings to create the conditions to meet the Dragon King outside the Buddha Sasana.”
“May the merit of recording these recollections of the Prajna Paramita Teachings by Venerable Sariputta be dedicated to my Buddha Dharma practice on the Bodhisattva path to Bodhicitta.”
Student R wrote:
“To learn anything, I had to increase my merit and continue to do so. I needed to rid myself of feelings of hatred and anger that are dangerous and powerful negative forces and burn up merit very quickly.”
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Mind
Students who gained some insight into the nature of Reality also gained some insight into the nature of their own minds. As a result, the importance of preparing their minds and of being aware of and controlling their mental states became very clear to them. Some examples of these insights are given below:
Student A wrote:
“During the time of the teachings I came to understand that ignorance is not remembering.
During the time of the teachings I came to realise Saddha (confidence), and on the evening of the 2nd of May I chose to speed read the entire text by Edward Conze of the translation to the English language of the “Introduction to The Large Sutra on Perfect Wisdom with the divisions of the Abhisamayalankara” which was used as a key basis for commentary during these teachings.
With will to do I saw it is possible to speed read and learn the entire John D. Hughes Collection this life and vow to do so.”
Student B wrote:
“I do not wish to convey the impression that what I write is an understanding of Prajna Paramita. I do not have the wholesome minds assembled which directly know the Prajna Paramita.
Without directly knowing the Prajna Paramita the understanding is hearsay and is some form of misunderstanding or not perfect understanding.
Therefore I wish to be open and apologise for errors in my understanding of these Teachings so as not to lie about the Teachings or slander the Teacher, the Teachings or the heavenly Teachers and retinue associated with these Teachings.”
“As a result of hearing the Prajna Paramita Teachings I have been able to recognise that the Prajna Paramita Teachings are statements of truth which are without bias of any of the myriad forms which bias can manifest. For example, there is no gender bias, no age bias, no racial bias, no personality bias.
As a result of hearing the Prajna Paramita Teachings I have begun to recognise by contrast how the mind without Prajna Paramita leans on the information it is sending out to others or receiving from outside to spin the signal in its own favour. The minds with ignorance employ bias because they have the illusion that there is something in it for them.
Truth hasn’t got much chance in this time of mind field.
Having owned the information or “personalised” it, the minds with ignorance have a vested interest in the outcomes of this fiddling. Those minds have refuge in views and their sense of well-being depends on receiving the desired outcomes.
From this position the minds with ignorance need to distort the information to attract the four of the eight wordly conditions they prefer experiencing and to dispel the four of the eight wordly conditions which they dislike experiencing.”
“Over the three years of the Prajna Paramita Teaching John D. Hughes used skilful means of instruction giving commentary on the text and providing many methods of learning and practice to wake up the students (deva and humans) to successively clearer levels of understanding.”
“One Prajna Paramita Teaching enabled students to recognise they had a latent death wish and the meditation when followed by the students enabled them to abandon this death wish. The result I experienced was my mind became lighter and less serious.”
“In addition the mind of the student is flawed, narrow, unreliable and stupid. This is how Samsara is and this is what my experience has been. Things are muddled, unresolved, unsatisfying, defective, impure, tainted, rushed – I want my money back!
To know that there are things such as the Perfection of Wisdom (and other Perfections) which are not like this is a great Blessing. The intention and practice to understand the Buddha Dhamma gives purpose and meaning to living.”
Student C wrote:
When persons manage the knowledge well that comes through Prajna Paramita it is like “looking at life as though it were a kaleidoscope. Mandalas are created, connections realised and the mind conquered now.”
When persons know they have conquered something: “They know now and they know immediately and are therefore able to quickly shift the kaleidoscope to allow a new insight to occur.”
“Persons can sit still and look deep inside themselves. Persons need to [look] deep enough that they move beyond their own individuality to connect with the broader Mind. This Mind is beyond self and is also completely and utterly self.”
Student E wrote:
“From the various mind styles, I have used the “wholesome mind” for mindful driving, walking, shopping and, most particularly, cooking.”
Student H wrote:
“Over the first year of the Teachings, I spent time preparing my mind to understand the teachings and to generate the right intention.”
“I came to understand that the Buddha Dhamma is vast and highly detailed and that I understood nothing. With this view, I was able to drop any ideas or misconceptions I had about practice or wisdom and quickly followed the instructions of the Teacher so that I did not miss out on this rare opportunity to learn and practice the Prajna Paramita.
Having dropped the concept of an I, my, me, the mind was able to enter emptiness (3rd arupa jhana) where a better view of the Prajna Paramita teachings could be known. I was able to enter a mind that could see the Buddha teaching the Prajna Paramita to the assembly and sit and listen to the teachings and the responses given by the beings being taught.
I could see how small my view was and how ‘vast’ the Buddha field was. I also knew that the only reason I could do this was because of the kindness of the Teacher and the Buddha field generated by the Buddha and his retinue, the PrajnaParamita and her retinue and my Teacher, Sariputta and his retinue. Without their kindness, I could not have understood one word of the teachings or make enough merit to enter or sustain such a mind.”
Student J wrote:
“Always examine what you do so you can do it more effectively mandala walking is quite fun. This practice though simple allows one to see a great deal about the mind creating the path as it walks.
Examine the mental imprint of the mind in the present and note how that effects walking.
Is that is best way to step?
can one improve on each step?
Are the hips, shoulders, head in the correct position.
Is the mind running ahead to the next step or to the end of the path.
As John D. Hughes often teaches there is no “royal load to learning” it can be quite a steep track full of pit holes at times but that is where the tools must be and can be applied very effectively to awaken the mind.”
Student L wrote:
“The Prajnaparamita, being wisdom beyond words, is a truth that can only be intuited, not intellectually grasped. A Buddha does not teach a doctrine as [an] a priori belief system, hence the Buddha has no doctrine to preach.
The caution here is not to set up the Dharma as an object of knowledge that can be conveyed to others. The human mind is easily infatuated with what it thinks it knows and tries to establish that knowledge as a statement of Truth. Page 95 The Diamond Sutra – Translated Text and Commentary – Mu Leong.”
Student M wrote:
“Our development of the use of information technology over the period of the Prajna Paramita Teachings has been in harmony with the development of the Student’s minds over that period, and the development of their ability to product (sic) array minds to apply to the practice of the Perfection of Wisdom.”
“At a certain point, Students began to learn how to develop array minds that are often referred to as mandalas.
A time arrives when the Student must abandon past conceptual frameworks of thinking and move to direct knowledge, and no longer revert to relying on the old structures.
The ability to develop array minds is required in order that the old frameworks can be discarded.”
“The rebirthing of minds used for the building of the mandala for the Prajna Paramita Deity and her Retinue was, in a sense, the following of the Path: each Member followed the moral guidelines laid down in the Eightfold Path; each concentrated to the best of his or her ability and each being aware that Wisdom arises from Right Thought rebirthing to Right Practice.”
Student N wrote:
“There is only one thing the Buddha taught: to get out of suffering.
[Student N]…has seen dukkha (suffering) and wishes to get out of suffering. Everything in Mara’s world is dukkha. This can be seen in the Law of Dependent Origination: Mara holds the wheel with all the suffering in his or her claws.
The Buddhas sit outside Mara’s world.
[Student N]…practices Buddha Dhamma at all times. Buddha Dhamma is number one.”
“[Student N]…saw the link between the Buddha, Prajna Paramita and the Teacher. [Student N]… asked the Buddha if there is a weak point in her practice where she could fall over and lose Buddha Dhamma. The Buddha responded that she will be fine until to the point when her teacher John D. Hughes (Sariputta) will finish. [Student N]…asked what the solution to the problem is, and the Buddha responded: “Look at me”. So [Student N] looked at the Buddha and saw the Buddha in the Heaven world. The Buddha then said: “Follow me”. [Student N]…answered saying three times: “I will follow you”. The [Student N] requested to be taught by the Buddha directly for the first time.
It was through the skill of the Buddha Dhamma teacher and his Retinue, and Prajna Paramita, that [Student N]…has been able to do this.”
“There is not doubt that there are wholesome and unwholesome mental states…[Student N] practices to make the wholesome states stay, and to make the unwholesome mental states to cease arising. Prajna Paramita teaches to conquer your own minds, both wholesome and unwholesome.”
“During the Prajna Paramita Teaching period, [Student N]…attended Teachings of a great Arhat from Thailand. The Venerable taught [Student N]…about dana: it is possible to offer on behalf of all past, present and future teachable beings. You can offer your Buddha Dhamma practice. Ajarn reinforced the importance of practice and to increase the practice of Buddha Dhamma. The aim is to conquer the own mind by developing wholesome minds. It is necessary to practice mindfulness (sati), which will then lead to the other factors of the seven enlightenment factors.”
“[Student N] has developed the will-to-do-minds to continue on the path and wishes to preserve the minds that can learn.”
“Buddha heart makes you happy.”
Student O wrote (also an insight into the Law of Causes and Effects):
“I vow to practice and make sufficient merit to increase wholesome cetasikas kaya-muduta, pliancy of mental states, and citta-muduta, pliancy of mind. I vow to conquer unwholesome states of mind.”
“The syllables of the following mantra have often been translated in the Tibetan tradition in order to unpack the symbolic meaning “Gone, gone, gone beyond, gone completely beyond. Awake! Wow!” The way of being of Bodhisattvas has gone beyond all limits of conceptuality, boundary, or any limitations whatsoever. This is what enlightenment is, awake.
Gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi svaha
Gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi svaha
…
Gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi svaha”
[Repeated 114 times in total]
Student R wrote:
“For me, a good part of the teaching for the first year was about preparing my mind to receive the teachings correctly…My “Request to be Taught” had to be sure and steady.”
“My tendency to become involved in side issues had to be stopped to enable my mind to concentrate on Reality (mindfulness) instead of chasing self-based illusions. With these conditions accomplished I would be able to develop a mind that wanted to learn but not just to learn but to “know”.”
“I began to understand that with the greater comprehension derived through study, our convictions become more profound which in turn engenders a greater and more powerful realisation in meditation.
I realised I had to generate a solid intent to practice hard which would brighten my kharma so that I may learn more clearly enabling me to obtain the ability to help others and to avoid being dull in mind. To help achieve this intent, I needed to crack the protective shield of past negative Akusla minds and kharma to focus on the teachings of the Prajna Paramita. It was necessary for me continually to reassert the will and wish to focus on the teachings of the Prajna Paramita and find strength in the teachings of the Buddha.”
“I have gained a determination to the attainment and ability to maintain a dharma mirror-mind so that I may be able to see the Truth of Reality.”
Student S wrote:
“We must learn, develop and practice the Perfection of Wisdom to gain understanding of reality. The Perfection of Wisdom leads to liberation. The Perfection of Wisdom must be supported by the cultivation of skillful means to remove all obstructions to understanding reality. Wisdom without skillful means means restricting our full development. Skillful means without wisdom means we cannot become liberated. Skillful means includes cultivating the other perfections, meditating on anicca, dukkha, anatta, causes and effects, cultivating the altruistic intension (sic) and other positive practices. Cultivation of wisdom and skillful means add great power to our understanding of reality and consumes all obstructions.”
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Emptiness/Not-self
Several students also reported or demonstrated insight into the emptiness of existence. These insights are given below:
Student B wrote:
“[In minds with ignorance] the dharmas are not seen as empty. The dharmas, or thought events, are seen as being real, having substance, being reliable, and at some level are mine or “self”. As such all dharmas are believed or disbelieved.
The Prajna Paramita is not biased towards or against any of the eight worldly conditions because all phenomena are seen as being empty in that they are transitory, unstable, without self, baseless.
Nothing has substance in itself. Nothing is independent or unsupported by something else. (which again has its own supports) Phenomena arises only in dependence upon its causes, its components. This lack of such true existence is called “emptiness” (Skt: Shunyata).”
“By not taking a stand in any of those dharmas a Bodhisattva courses in perfect wisdom.
“Moreover a Bodhisattva who courses in perfect wisdom should not stand in form” (if he stands in form) “then he courses in the formative influences of form”…”while coursing in formative influences, a Bodhisattva cannot gain perfect wisdom, nor make endeavors about it, or fulfil it.”(p.101)”
Student G wrote:
“All beings are interdependent and the Prajnaparamita teachings have helped me to expand my view on the vast diversity and fundamental nature of phenomena [as empty].
…To come to knowledge of emptiness is the result of following the instructions given in the Prajnaparamita. The Wisdom gained is a result of having right view. That means coming out of ignorance that leads to the end of suffering. The way out of suffering is the way found through practicing the Prajnaparamita, the path of Wisdom.”
Student H wrote:
“Having entered the Prajna Paramita mandala, I could understand what the Buddha was teaching when he explained that something was neither produced nor stopped, or empty or not empty. The Buddha answered most of the questions kindly asked by Sariputra and Subhuti in such a way that the answer was not able to be grabbed or apprehended. So it is with the Perfection of Wisdom. Nothing is gained or lost, no mark is left.
I could see that this understanding was only true to a person who had thoroughly studied the Buddha’s teachings and read the texts. Only then could a person understand that nothing had been gained or lost or cognated or not cognated because they had the knowledge of the subject to drop in the first place.
I now know that I have to study for many lifetimes to understand the Buddha Dhamma and not grab onto anything and call it ‘my knowledge’ or ‘my insight’ or ‘my understanding’ or ‘my attainment’.”
Student K wrote:
“Conze sums the central theme of the Prajnaparamita in two sentences: “1. One should become a Bodhisattva, i.e. Someone content with nothing less that all-knowledge attained through the perfection of wisdom for the sake of all living beings. 2. There is no such thing as a Bodhisattva, or all-knowledge, or a “being”, or the perfection of wisdom, or an attainment”.
There are 22 kinds of “thought of enlightenment”, or aims in cultivating Perfect Wisdom.
The “thought of enlightenment” is “(a) the decision to win full enlightenment, or all-knowledge; (b) the desire for the welfare of others. Emptiness and compassion are its two constituents. It makes one into a Bodhisattva. The term is used twofold: 1. For the initial, first, production of the thought of enlightenment, the “vow”. 2. For marching towards enlightenment. In the second sense it covers the entire career of a Bodhisattva, and its 22 forms correspond to its stages, and end in Buddhahood”.”
“Sunyata is the sanskrit word for “emptiness” or “devoidness”. Only with the eye of intuitive wisdom can final reality be seen.”
Student M wrote:
“The Bodhisattva applies mindfulness in four ways: with regard to the body, the feelings, thoughts and dharmas. The Bodhisattva does not form anyt (sic) discursive thoughts associate diwth (sic) the body. The Bodhisattva is ardent, clearly conscious and mindful, after putting away all wordly covetousness and sadness. And that without taking anything as a basis. And so the Bodhisattva dwells with regard to the outer body, to the inner and outer body, to feelings, thought and dharmas.
The Equipment with the Path consists of the Four Applications of Mindfulness, the Four Right Efforts, the Four Bases of Psychic Power, the Five Dominants, the Five Powers, the Seven Limbs of Enlightenment, the Eightfold Path, the Three Concentrations, the Three Dominants, the Three Concentrations (sic), the Ten Recollections, the Four Trances, The Four Unlimited, the Four Formless Attainments, the Eight Deliverances, the Nine Attainments of Successive Stations, the Ten Powers of a Tathagata, the Four Grounds of Selfconfidence, the Four Analytical Knowledges, and the Eighteen Special Dharmas of a Buddha. And all that without taking anything as a basis.”
“Our mandala for Prajna Paramita was created on 29 April 2002 CE in 3 sections as a Celebration of the 41st Birth Anniversary of Anita.
…This process involved millions of lives of being together in a good relationship. Peace arises for Anita and John during the bell puja because in highest sunyata mental state, there is no longer much adhesion to, or desire for anything at all, not even peace. It is sufficient to be with goodly co-mates praising the various millions of bodhisattva deities that help others find the middle way.
It has been pointed out above that the highest sunyata alone cannot be represented directly but it can be suggested by a certain point of the disassembly of the mandala. The dissolving mandala enters a state of “not-this-not-that”. It becomes clear that our future of being able to pass through death and rebirth and to meet again is certain.”
Student N wrote:
“John D. Hughes taught [Student N]…about anicca (impermanence).”
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General Wisdom Insights
Some insights gained by the Students are very much insights related to Wisdom but are not directly an insight into one of the categories Law of Causes and Effects, Mind or Emptiness/Not-self. These are presented below:
Student A wrote:
“Through the Prajna Paramita teachings I have come to understand the nature of this Temple, once described by my Teacher as the place where ‘heaven meets’ (sic) earth’. To see that the Devas and Devatas, the heavenly protectors help the teacher and students in many ways to protect the temple and propagate the Buddha Dhamma.”
Student B wrote:
“Also on the same evening John taught how to dissemble a mandala in a skilful way which makes good causes rather than destructive seeds.
The Teaching comes from recognising resources and Dhamma artefacts as precious. These resources are owned by the Buddha. In order that the dissembling of the mandala is done without confusion or mental disturbance the process is pre-planned so that all the items can be handled with care and respect.”
“The opportunity to know the Prajna Paramita is so rarely found anywhere in Samsara over countless lives and that direct access to such Perfections is so precious that this opportunity should not be wasted. However I have not been able to access these teachings on this occasion and I have felt that to be unfortunate for myself and others.”
Student H wrote:
“The Buddha explained the six perfections. The perfection of giving, the perfection of morality, the perfection of patience, the perfection of energy, the perfection of meditation, and the perfection of wisdom.
I learnt that the six perfections (in other texts there are ten perfections), are fundamental to the practice of Buddha Dhamma.”
Student J wrote:
“The teacher John D Hughes used many examples both from the text and everyday life to quide (sic) the students to experience the mandala and tools of the Prajnaparamita perfection of wisdom. This was very useful as the text is very profound and having a teacher guiding enabled one to experience the teaching and “taste the Dharma” It is only through experience that one really make (sic) solid changes in life that stick. Otherwise the thoughts this student found are like leaves in the wind and fly away leaving no mark.”
“In order to learn the students must apply skill in means…to mandala block in a skillful way to make changes…A very simple example that this student has applied in this way is her health. In the past she tried to fix one thing at a time for example diet but not fixing mediation (sic), exercise and rest meant that diet had little effect so was not followed through. However through attending to all critical areas of health at once she has noted that her health has improved. She has realised the only possible way to walk the path to good health is to address all fronts and keep doing it everyday. As the knowledge of how to get good health is useless if not put into action. Walk in the present everyday…[ellipsis in original] one step one step, the steps of yesterday have left no track.”
Student L wrote:
“The source text: ”The Large Sutra on Perfect Wisdom” translated from Sanskrit and edited by Edward Conze is structured like a novel and a management manual. Read thoroughly it occurs as a set of instructions as well as a repeating set of tests. Whether the reader absorbs the narrative or not or studies the text and attempts and completes the instructions and tests is up to the individual.
What the Buddha taught during the forty-five years of his teaching mission was a universal diagnosis of the human condition as characterized by dukkha (unsatisfactoriness) and a prescription for transcending this condition.
Repeatedly he cautioned that what he taught must not be taken on faith, but that its veracity must be tested by each person through his or her own experience.
The Kalama Sutra from the pali canon is an elegant testimony to the Buddha’s insistence on this verification of the truth through individual, direct experience. The Diamond Sutra – Mu Leong”.
Student P wrote:
“These teachings have shown to me some of the vastness of Buddha Dharma. Through the teacher’s kindness I have identified many of my errors, which I can work on in my practice to remove from now onwards.
Sadhu Sadhu Sadhu”
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Compassion insights
Student F states:
“Prajna Paramita teaches that Bodhisattvas are beings that chose to stay in birth to be able to help and teach those beings that can be taught, that is both human beings and devas and devatas – sattadevemanussanam. Our Temple is a sattadevemanussanam Temple.”
Further, as Student K noted in quoting Edward Conze (see section on insights relating to Mind above):
“There are 22 kinds of “thought of enlightenment”, or aims in cultivating Perfect Wisdom.
The “thought of enlightenment” is “(a) the decision to win full enlightenment, or all-knowledge; (b) the desire for the welfare of others. Emptiness and compassion are its two constituents. It makes one into a Bodhisattva.”
Thus a Bodhisattva, as expressed by Student G, is:
“One who courses life after life perfecting him or herself for the benefit of all beings through Wisdom and Compassion.”
Before presenting specific insights regarding Compassion, it is important to highlight the significance of gratitude. A student is displaying an understanding of Compassion, and its importance, simply by expressing gratitude to the Teacher, or to Prajna Paramita or to any being that has taught or otherwise provided help to them as they practice Buddha Dhamma. Any being who helps does so because their own insights into suffering moves them to practice Compassion toward all beings. Any being who receives such help experiences Compassion in action, and in responding with gratitude shows that they understand that is Compassion for their suffering that has moved that being to help them.
Expressions of gratitude by students are very numerous in the recollections, and are not included in the insights into Compassion, which are presented below:
Student A wrote:
“May all those who have heard the Prajna Paramita teachings remember what they have heard and understood, how they came to understand, and what they have changed and practice as a result of those teachings.
May Guru Sariputta and his consort Anita course in the Perfection of Wisdom.
May they be well and happy
May all beings be well and happy"
Student B wrote:
“The experience of making offerings to the Prajna Paramita Mandala also taught me about giving with a generous and happy heart rather than using a small, mean stingy mind.”
Student C wrote:
“May all beings be well and happy.”
Student D wrote:
“I thank all the beings that have enabled the Prajnaparamita to be taught and preserved at our Centre during this round of Prajnaparamita teachings. May the Teachings of the Prajnaparamita be preserved at our Centre and throughout the world for 500 years to benefit many teachable beings.”
Student G wrote:
“By cultivating and perfecting wholesome actions in mind, speech and body, the vow generated to perform noble actions for the benefit of all beings was awakened and strengthened by the guidance of the Teacher.”
“May I put in the right causes to hear and practice the Buddha Dhamma.
May I put in the right causes to hear and practice the Prajnaparamita
May I meet with Noble Beings.
May I course on the path of the Bodhisattva.”
Student H wrote:
“I had previously taken Bodhisattva Vows and read them again so that I could maintain them and understand them better.”
Student I states:
That she intends to “follow the path of virtue, faith and wisdom”
“May we dwell in True Dhamma.
May this centre exist for 500 years.
May all beings be well and happy.”
Student M wrote:
“May all beings find the correct Teacher.
May all beings come to hear the Prajna Paramita Teachings.
May all being come to course in the Perfection of Wisdom,
May all beings come to full enlightenment.”
Student N wrote:
“I vow to learn to live in Yidam form so that I will be able to practice Buddha Dhamma in Yidam form and help many beings.”
“It is the Bodhisattva vows made by [Student N]… that are the causes for her to keep coming back, and it is these vows that stop Mara, the negative forces in the world, from interfering with the Bodhisattva’s work. When completed, Prajna Paramita itself is out of Mara’s reach.”
Student O wrote:
“I vow to understand and practice the Prajna Paramita so that I may transform the suffering of self and others in the limitless joy that recognises the true nature of reality.
I vow to practice as a Bodhisattva this life and lives to come.
I vow to win enlightenment for self and others. The time to conquer is now.”
Student Q wrote:
“May the Merit of recording these recollections of the Prajna Paramita Teachings by Venerable Sariputta be dedicated to by Buddha Dhamma practice on the Bodhisattva Path to Bodhicitta.”
Student R wrote:
“Through the power of Kharma countless beings from the past, present and future have gained kharmic connections to my own kharmic stream. This knowledge gave me a strong conviction to generate the will to practice and learn the Prajna Paramita so that I may attain the wisdom for self and others to help them travel along their own kharmic path toward Buddha Dharma.”
“I now have a strong intent to attain the perfect wisdom of the Prajna Paramita for the sake of all being. I am aware that this is a “thought of enlightenment.”
I know the vows made in this essay will follow me through all…lifetimes until they have been completed.”
Sadhu Sadhu Sadhu
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