Mārgajñatā
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mārgajñatā (T. lam shes; C. daozhi 道智). Translated as “knowledge of the path”, "path-knowledge", etc. It is one of the "eight topics" of the Abhisamayālaṃkāra. As such, it is one of the three types of knowledge presented in the text, along with “knowledge of all aspects” (sarvākārajñatā) and "knowledge of the bases" (sarvajñatā or vastujñāna).[1]
According to the the Abhisamayālaṃkāra, the attainment of the “knowledge of all aspects” (sarvākārajñatā) depends upon "knowledge of the path" (mārgajñatā).[2]
Karl Brunnhölzl states:
- The knowledge of the path means that, while bodhisattvas travel through the five paths of the mahāyāna and in particular through the ten bhūmis, they realize that all three types of paths—those of śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, and bodhisattvas—are primordially unborn and without any nature of their own. This knowledge also refers to all the activities performed on the bodhisattva path and primarily serves as the remedy for the cognitive obscurations, eventually resulting in the knowledge of all aspects.[3]
Tubten Tsondru Puntsok states:
- Knowledge of the path is defined as the path of training that will lead us to realize the authentic limit of reality, once we have realized that the three paths are without any true reality and have perfected, matured and purified.
- When divided, there is the path-knowledge that knows the path of the śrāvakas, the path-knowledge that knows the pratyekabuddha path, and the path-knowledge that knows the path of the bodhisattvas.
- It is present on the five paths of the mahāyāna. It is also taught that it is present from the mahāyāna path of seeing until the state of awakening.[4]
The Abhisamayālaṃkāra enumerates eleven points of the knowledge of the path.
Notes
- ↑ Buswell & Lopez 2014, s.v. mārgajñatā.
- ↑ Brunnhölzl 2011, The Second Chapter, The Knowledge of the Path.
- ↑ Brunnhölzl 2011, Introduction.
- ↑ Tubten Tsondru Puntsok 2022, Section I.2.
Sources
Brunnhölzl, Karl (2011), Gone Beyond: The Prajnaparamita Sutras, The Ornament of Clear Realization, and Its Commentaries in the Tibetan Kagyu Tradition, Volume One, Snow Lion
Buswell, Robert E.; Lopez, Donald S. (2014), The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, Princeton University
Tubten Tsondru Puntsok (2022), Seventy Points of Abhisamayālaṃkāra, translated by Adam Pearcy, Lotsawa House
External links
Path-knowledge, Rigpa Shedra Wiki
