Omniscience
Below is a series of posts I have added on the topic of omniscience, an key feature of buddhahood.
Today I am adding one more. See way down at the end of the page. [ September 7, 2011]
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Bibliotheca Buddhica:
"That Buddha is omniscient does not mean that he knows the names of all plants and the names of all animals, etc., etc., but it means that he possesses a knowledge of the four truths, that is to say, he possesses in the highest degree philosophic intuition. It is the highest knowledge as conceived by Spinoza not the kind of omniscience imagined by unphilosophic minds."
Doing some research on the Abhisamaya-alamkara, I found an old work by Levi and Stcherbatsky on Google Books. This particular comment (above) caught my eye, because it is something I wonder about.
One of the distinctions between a Hinayana arhat (someone who has achieved personal nirvana) and buddha (a perfectly and completely enlightened being) is that a buddha has also removed all obstacles to knowledge. And so buddhas are called all-knowing or omniscient.
I think our Tibetan lamas say that buddhas know all phenomena, all objects of knowledge, of the past, present and future.
It makes sense to me that an enlightened mind would have access to all knowable objects by directing one's attention in a certain way. The mind, being non-material, is essentially unimpeded by physical matter, by distance, and so I suppose by time.
But could Levi and Stcherbatsky be correct here, and this is all it means? a knowledge of the four truths?
__________________________
[August 20, 2008 - more clarification on 'omniscience']
an excerpt from Stairway to Nirvana, by James B. Apple with apologies to the author for the loss of diacritical marks
Therefore, whether viewed as a scripture, the spiritual state of mind, the goal of enlightenment, or emptiness, Prajnaparamita in this Indo-Tibetan tradition is identified as both a feminine force and a maternal one. Manifest in relation to the needs of the aspirant, she incorporates all facets of the path and is synonymous with Total Omniscience. Because of her relation with the three individuals, this maternal force is explained as Bhagavati.
She is one who causes the completion of the desired qualities “leading to peace” and so forth, the final aim for each individual path.
The homage illustrates that within the manifestation of the three types of omniscience, she is the Mother of four types of Noble Beings (arya): the Buddha, along with the assemblies of shravakas, pratyekabuddhas, and bodhisattvas.What are these three manifestations?
All-knowledge (sarvajnata) is the Mother of shravakas and pratyekabuddhas, as shravakas and pratyekabuddhas are exemplified by the words “shravakas, those seeking the peace of nirvana, she who is able to lead through pacification of defilement and suffering through the guise of All-knowledge.”
Knowledge of the Paths (margajnata ) is the Mother of the bodhisattvas and buddhas, those who cause benefit to beings, she who causes to achieve the aims of those to be trained in the world.
Total Omniscience (sarvakarajnata) is the Mother of the Buddhas, by being well affiliated with knowledge in all its aspects, which understands exactly the manner of reality (...) to its fullest possible extent (...).
Today I am adding one more. See way down at the end of the page. [ September 7, 2011]
-------------------------------------------
Bibliotheca Buddhica:
"That Buddha is omniscient does not mean that he knows the names of all plants and the names of all animals, etc., etc., but it means that he possesses a knowledge of the four truths, that is to say, he possesses in the highest degree philosophic intuition. It is the highest knowledge as conceived by Spinoza not the kind of omniscience imagined by unphilosophic minds."
Doing some research on the Abhisamaya-alamkara, I found an old work by Levi and Stcherbatsky on Google Books. This particular comment (above) caught my eye, because it is something I wonder about.
One of the distinctions between a Hinayana arhat (someone who has achieved personal nirvana) and buddha (a perfectly and completely enlightened being) is that a buddha has also removed all obstacles to knowledge. And so buddhas are called all-knowing or omniscient.
I think our Tibetan lamas say that buddhas know all phenomena, all objects of knowledge, of the past, present and future.
It makes sense to me that an enlightened mind would have access to all knowable objects by directing one's attention in a certain way. The mind, being non-material, is essentially unimpeded by physical matter, by distance, and so I suppose by time.
But could Levi and Stcherbatsky be correct here, and this is all it means? a knowledge of the four truths?
__________________________
[August 20, 2008 - more clarification on 'omniscience']
an excerpt from Stairway to Nirvana, by James B. Apple with apologies to the author for the loss of diacritical marks
Therefore, whether viewed as a scripture, the spiritual state of mind, the goal of enlightenment, or emptiness, Prajnaparamita in this Indo-Tibetan tradition is identified as both a feminine force and a maternal one. Manifest in relation to the needs of the aspirant, she incorporates all facets of the path and is synonymous with Total Omniscience. Because of her relation with the three individuals, this maternal force is explained as Bhagavati.
She is one who causes the completion of the desired qualities “leading to peace” and so forth, the final aim for each individual path.
The homage illustrates that within the manifestation of the three types of omniscience, she is the Mother of four types of Noble Beings (arya): the Buddha, along with the assemblies of shravakas, pratyekabuddhas, and bodhisattvas.What are these three manifestations?
All-knowledge (sarvajnata) is the Mother of shravakas and pratyekabuddhas, as shravakas and pratyekabuddhas are exemplified by the words “shravakas, those seeking the peace of nirvana, she who is able to lead through pacification of defilement and suffering through the guise of All-knowledge.”
Knowledge of the Paths (margajnata ) is the Mother of the bodhisattvas and buddhas, those who cause benefit to beings, she who causes to achieve the aims of those to be trained in the world.
Total Omniscience (sarvakarajnata) is the Mother of the Buddhas, by being well affiliated with knowledge in all its aspects, which understands exactly the manner of reality (...) to its fullest possible extent (...).
Stairway to Nirvana: A Study of the Twenty Samghas Based on the Works of Tsong Kha Pa
By James B. Apple
Published by SUNY Press, 2008
ISBN 0791473759, 9780791473757
275 pages
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more on this topic:
clarifying a certain type of all-knowing
[August 25, 2008]
from a transcript of a lecture by Geshe Jampa Gyatso, January 29, 1998:
We will review the section covered yesterday: “2B2A-1B2A-2A. How the clear realizations of hearers and solitary realizers are included within the knowers of bases.” The clear realizations of hearers and solitary realizers are included in the knower of bases. “Bases” refers to the twelve sources, the six outer and six inner sources. These bases are realized in terms of the sixteen aspects of the four noble truths. That which realizes them is a knower of bases. This knower of bases exists in the continua of hearers and solitary realizers, whereas hearers and solitary realizers do not possess the knower of paths and the exalted knower of all aspects.
These twelve sources are called “bases” because they include all phenomena without exception. The twelve are the six outer sources of forms, sounds, odors, tastes, tactile objects, and phenomena, and the six inner sources of the eye, ear, nose tongue, body, and mind. If we look at how the twelve sources influence our daily life, we will understand them better. When we see forms, the object of the eye, attachment rises for those that are attractive, anger toward those that are unattractive, and ignorance toward those that are neutral. Likewise, when we hear sounds, attachment rises for those that are pleasant and anger for those that are unpleasant. We also spend our time praising good odors and complaining about bad odors. If we were just to see forms, hear sounds, smell odors, and so forth, without creating actions as a result, this would be fine, but in general, afflictions arise and we then commit negative actions.
These twelve sources are the cause of all our daily experiences. Therefore, instead of generating afflictions and creating negative actions in relation to them, we need to realize them in terms of the sixteen aspects of the four noble truths, such as their being impermanent, misery, selfless, empty, etc. In other words, we should understand how these twelve sources actually exist.
from the previous class:All bases are outer and inner phenomena. Hearers and solitary realizers know all bases, that is, all outer and inner phenomena. In other words, the bases are the six inner sources (ayatana) and six outer sources.
The six outer sources are:
1. the form source,
2. the odor source,
3. the sound source,
4. the taste source,
5. the tactile object source, and
6. the phenomena source.
The six inner sources are:
1. the eye source,
2. the ear source,
3. the nose source,
4. the tongue source,
5. the body source, and
6. the mental source.
By means of the six inner sources, the six outer sources are perceived. Both these inner and outer sources are known to hearers and solitary realizers. Hearers realize the selflessness of persons of these twelve bases.
- FPMT Masters Program, ILTK, on the Ornament of Clear Realizations, Abhisamaya-alamkara
[This here is the punchline: knowing all bases means knowing that they lack a self of persons. I still need to double-check exactly what this means. Probably varies from one tenet-system to the next. It could mean that one realizes that these bases don't really belong to a person, aren't really part of a person, that there is no true person connected to them. Something like that.]
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More input on this topic, added September 7, 2011
[How does Chandrakirti in the Supplement explain the way a buddha’s exalted wisdom comprehends all objects of knowledge in an instant?]
Just as, even though there are many divisions of different vessels, such as pots, metal bowls, and so forth, because the space belonging to these vessels, that is, which pervades them, is the same in being a mere negation of all that is obstructive, it does not have divisions other than that in terms of the different divisions.
Similarly, even though there are many different divisions of things, such as forms, feelings, and so forth – that is [things] produced by their respective causes and conditions – the suchness, i.e. the lack of inherent production, that belongs to them, because of not having any divisions of production by things at all, should be understood as being the same taste, that is, as being just one taste.
Since that same taste, moreover, is perfectly comprehended by just one instant of an exalted knower, you who possess excellent knowledge, gain the exalted wisdom comprehending all objects of knowledge in an instant.
from Je Tsongkhapa's "Illumunation of the Thought," (dgongs pa rab gsal)
______________________________________
clarifying a certain type of all-knowing
[August 25, 2008]
from a transcript of a lecture by Geshe Jampa Gyatso, January 29, 1998:
We will review the section covered yesterday: “2B2A-1B2A-2A. How the clear realizations of hearers and solitary realizers are included within the knowers of bases.” The clear realizations of hearers and solitary realizers are included in the knower of bases. “Bases” refers to the twelve sources, the six outer and six inner sources. These bases are realized in terms of the sixteen aspects of the four noble truths. That which realizes them is a knower of bases. This knower of bases exists in the continua of hearers and solitary realizers, whereas hearers and solitary realizers do not possess the knower of paths and the exalted knower of all aspects.
These twelve sources are called “bases” because they include all phenomena without exception. The twelve are the six outer sources of forms, sounds, odors, tastes, tactile objects, and phenomena, and the six inner sources of the eye, ear, nose tongue, body, and mind. If we look at how the twelve sources influence our daily life, we will understand them better. When we see forms, the object of the eye, attachment rises for those that are attractive, anger toward those that are unattractive, and ignorance toward those that are neutral. Likewise, when we hear sounds, attachment rises for those that are pleasant and anger for those that are unpleasant. We also spend our time praising good odors and complaining about bad odors. If we were just to see forms, hear sounds, smell odors, and so forth, without creating actions as a result, this would be fine, but in general, afflictions arise and we then commit negative actions.
These twelve sources are the cause of all our daily experiences. Therefore, instead of generating afflictions and creating negative actions in relation to them, we need to realize them in terms of the sixteen aspects of the four noble truths, such as their being impermanent, misery, selfless, empty, etc. In other words, we should understand how these twelve sources actually exist.
from the previous class:All bases are outer and inner phenomena. Hearers and solitary realizers know all bases, that is, all outer and inner phenomena. In other words, the bases are the six inner sources (ayatana) and six outer sources.
The six outer sources are:
1. the form source,
2. the odor source,
3. the sound source,
4. the taste source,
5. the tactile object source, and
6. the phenomena source.
The six inner sources are:
1. the eye source,
2. the ear source,
3. the nose source,
4. the tongue source,
5. the body source, and
6. the mental source.
By means of the six inner sources, the six outer sources are perceived. Both these inner and outer sources are known to hearers and solitary realizers. Hearers realize the selflessness of persons of these twelve bases.
- FPMT Masters Program, ILTK, on the Ornament of Clear Realizations, Abhisamaya-alamkara
[This here is the punchline: knowing all bases means knowing that they lack a self of persons. I still need to double-check exactly what this means. Probably varies from one tenet-system to the next. It could mean that one realizes that these bases don't really belong to a person, aren't really part of a person, that there is no true person connected to them. Something like that.]
-------------------------------
More input on this topic, added September 7, 2011
[How does Chandrakirti in the Supplement explain the way a buddha’s exalted wisdom comprehends all objects of knowledge in an instant?]
Just as, even though there are many divisions of different vessels, such as pots, metal bowls, and so forth, because the space belonging to these vessels, that is, which pervades them, is the same in being a mere negation of all that is obstructive, it does not have divisions other than that in terms of the different divisions.
Similarly, even though there are many different divisions of things, such as forms, feelings, and so forth – that is [things] produced by their respective causes and conditions – the suchness, i.e. the lack of inherent production, that belongs to them, because of not having any divisions of production by things at all, should be understood as being the same taste, that is, as being just one taste.
Since that same taste, moreover, is perfectly comprehended by just one instant of an exalted knower, you who possess excellent knowledge, gain the exalted wisdom comprehending all objects of knowledge in an instant.
from Je Tsongkhapa's "Illumunation of the Thought," (dgongs pa rab gsal)
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