Points for Meditation from Arya Nagarjuna's Ratnavali

Points for Meditation from Arya Nagarjuna's Ratnavali

Prostrations to the Omniscient One

Who is the only benefactor to all sentient beings.

                             1) There are two goals

a) Higher States

b) Ultimate Goodness

                             There are two means

a) Faith: it consists of the practices of virtue in general like cultivating confidence in the efficacy of law of Karma,  Three Jewels and the truth.

b) Wisdom: the wisdom realizing the ultimate truth.

Of the two - faith and wisdom - the latter is the prime. Faith, however should precede the latter.

 3) Criteria for one to be with faith - one who is not under the influence of attachment, anger, fear, and delusion that one is led towards casting aside virtues.

 4) 16 practices to achieve Higher States - 13 practices to abandon negativities and three practices to partake

 - abandoning 10 non-virtuous actions, alcohol, wrong livelihood and harmful physical actions

3 practices to partake - respectful generosity, offering service to the deserved and the practice of love (4 immeasurables)

 5) The above 16 practices can be summed up in the following three practices - generosity, ethical discipline, and patience.

 6) Concomitant results of the 16 negativities in opposition to the above 16 practices a) in terms of habit

                       b) in terms of experience

 7) Dharma for Ultimate goodness

                 Reflect as thus:

Grasping at self is folly → contaminated aggregates which arose from this grasping is also folly → grasping at self will cease → the contaminated aggregates will cease.

Just as an image is formed through dependence on many factors like mirror and so forth, the self also arises by dependence on many factors such as aggregates. The image though appears as the real object, it is devoid as such. Likewise, the self though appears, is devoid of its existence the way it appears to the self-grasping mind.

8) Grasping at the aggregates (grasping at the self of phenomena) → grasping at self of person → accumulates contaminated karmas → revolves in samsara.

 9) What is nirvana?  a) common acceptance: A quality of mind acquired through cessation of grasping at things and non-things.

b) uncommon to Prasangika: The ultimate reality of the mind characterised by the cessation of grasping at things and non-things.