The Great Chariot

by Longchenpa | 268,580 words

A Commentary on Great Perfection: The Nature of Mind, Easer of Weariness In Sanskrit the title is ‘Mahāsandhi-cittā-visranta-vṛtti-mahāratha-nāma’. In Tibetan ‘rDzogs pa chen po sems nyid ngal gso’i shing rta chen po shes bya ba ’...

Part 1b.2a - The root, ignorance

Now the karma that is supported is explained:
The root of karma, dependent dharmas, is ignorance.
Its threefold essence is passion, aggression, and ignorance,
Producing the black and white formations of samsara.

Primordially luminous mind-itself, by not apprehending its own nature, propagates confusions of grasping and fixation all over the ground. That is why there are confused sentient beings in samsara.

The Compendium of the Perfection of Knowledge (Shri Prajñaparamitasañcayagatha, ’phags pa shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa sdud pa tshigs su bcad pa) says:

All the sentient beings there may be, whether low, middle or high,
The Sugata teaches that they have arisen from ignorance.

The low ones are those in the lower realms. The middle ones are human beings. The higher ones are the gods. They all experience the joys and sorrows of their own various kinds of karma. However, the root of it all is ignorance. All these beings are associated with the three poisons. They are all associated with badness. In accord with their virtues and merits, they all produce fruitions of samsaric happiness.

The section on the producer, the bad or non-virtuous, has two divisions, the basis of classification and the divisions.

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