འཕགས་པ་ཀན་རྫབ་དང་དན་དམ་པའ་བདན་པ་བསྟན་པ་ཞས་བྱ་བ་ཐག་པ་ཆན་པའ་མད intro.7

intro.7

There are two truths, Mañjuśrī teaches. There is the relative truth in which all types of experiences unfold—good and bad, virtuous and nonvirtuous, pleasant and painful, awakened and confused. This truth also includes all the spiritual trainings that take an ordinary being along the path to the state of awakening itself. And then there is the ultimate truth, in which it is realized that all the phenomena experienced on the relative level are, in their most fundamental state, in Mañjuśrī’s words, “unborn, unarisen, and unreal.” This is the truth that is experienced by awakened beings. Still, even though awakened beings perceive the unborn, unarisen, and unreal nature of all phenomena, they actively participate in the relative aspect of things. In relative terms, awakened beings carry out the trainings on the path, guide confused beings toward the liberated state, and perform a multitude of services to beings in general. Nevertheless, as Mañjuśrī teaches again and again in this sūtra, they train without training, they guide without guiding, and they serve without serving. Through such paradoxical expressions, Mañjuśrī describes the experiences of those who have direct understanding of both the ultimate and relative truths.