2.2.2.1.1.5. THE EXPLANATION OF DIFFICULT TO OVERCOME (Sudurjayā, Jang Kawa/sbyang dka’ ba)
2.2.2.1.1.5.1. The name of the ground and its meaning
2.2.2.1.1.5.2. The teaching on the ground’s qualities
2.2.2.1.1.5.1. THE NAME OF THE GROUND AND ITS MEANING
The great beings on the ground Difficult to Overcome
Cannot be defeated by any of the māras. (s.1ab)
The great bodhisattva being that abides on this ground called Difficult to Overcome cannot be defeated by any of the devaputra māras181 who live in the worldly realms. Therefore, what need to speak of whether they obey such māras? For that reason, this ground is given the name Difficult to Overcome.
2.2.2.1.1.5.2. THE TEACHING ON THE GROUND’S QUALITIES
Their concentration becomes preeminent, and their excellent intelligence
Becomes very skilled at thoroughly examining the nature of the truths. (s.1cd)
This completes the fifth bodhichitta generation from the Entrance to the Middle Way.
For bodhisattvas who abide on this ground, concentration (dhyāna, samten/bsam gtan), from among the ten perfections, is preeminent. Their intelligence becomes excellent, because they attain great skill in examining the nature of the noble truths with precise and thorough supreme knowledge.
The four noble truths can be presented as two sets of cause and result: the afflictive set (what is to be relinquished), with the origin as the cause and suffering as the result, and the pure set (what is to be adopted), with the path as the cause and cessation as the result. However, these four truths can also be subsumed within the two truths of ultimate and relative. The truths of suffering, origin, and the path are relative truth, because they all entail the changes of conditioned phenomena at certain stages. The truth of cessation does not entail those changes, and therefore it is ultimate truth.
The above [paragraph] on how the four truths fit into the two truths, however, only represents the presentation of slight analysis from the perspective of others. Under thorough analysis, none of the four truths, which functionally depend on the other truths for their designation as truths, are suitable as ultimate truth. They are not truly established as either causes or results.
Other enumerations of truths can correlate with the two truths in a similar way.182
In the Ṭīkā, [Karmapa Mikyö Dorje] teaches that the assertion that the dharmadhātu is necessarily not the truth of cessation is untenable, and that the assertion that dharmatā is the truth of cessation is also untenable.
This completes the explanation of the fifth bodhichitta generation, Difficult to Overcome, from the Entrance to the Middle Way.