Chapter One: Introduction & The Exalted Knower of All Aspects
The first of the eight categories presented in the Ornament is the exalted knower of all aspects. It is the exalted knower in the continuum of a buddha superior that knows all the aspects of all objects of knowledge without exception. As described in the verse of homage, it is the means which enables a buddha to turn the wheel of Dharma to lead all sentient beings to enlightenment. It is set forth as the first category in order to inspire trainees to engage in the practices through understanding the excellent qualities of the result – the omniscient mind of a buddha. The manner in which the exalted knower of all aspects is presented is by way of the ten topics that illustrate it. These ten topics are not divisions of the exalted knower of all aspects but they enable us to develop an understanding of it.

The first topic is the conventional mahayana mind generation. This is a mind aspiring for complete enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings. The initial uncontrived generation of this mind marks a person’s entry into the mahayana path. For this reason it is described as the door of entry into the mahayana and is presented first. The second topic is precepts. These are precepts or oral instructions on the two truths, four noble truths, the Three Jewels, effort, and so forth. In general, one listens to precepts first and then on this basis meditates and develops the mind generation. However, these two are presented in reverse order in this explanation to indicate that only after the mind generation has been developed is one free from the obstacles to receiving precepts directly from a buddha in his supreme emanation body aspect.

Having listened to precepts and meditated on them, one then generates the third topic, the four branches of definite discrimination. This presents the mahayana path of preparation, the second of the five paths of a bodhisattva. The next topic is the naturally abiding lineage, the basis of mahayana achievings, which are the last four of ten topics. In general, naturally abiding lineage is also called buddha nature. It is possessed by all sentient beings and shows that all beings have the potential to achieve buddhahood. It is presented after the path of preparation because only after having attained the path of preparation does one possess a wisdom arisen from meditation on emptiness, whereby one becomes free from most of the four obstacles to activating the lineage. These four obstacles are: (1) much familiarity with the afflictions, (2) being accompanied by misleading friends, (3) being destitute, that is, lacking the conditions for Dharma practice, and (4) being under the control of others.

The fifth topic is the observed object of the achievings because in order to attain the goal of the achievings one has to meditate on their observed objects. Although there are eleven observed objects, virtue and so forth, it can also be said that the observed objects of the achievings are all phenomena. In observing these objects what is the intent? This is discussed in the sixth topic, the objects of intent. These are the three greatnesses, the final results for which a bodhisattva exerts effort to achieve.

Then, the seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth topics are the four achievings - achieving through armor, achieving through engagement, achieving through collections, and definitely issuing achieving - which are in order to attain the object of intent. A bodhisattva meditates on the observed objects of the achievings by means of these four types of achievings, whereby he attains the object of intent, the three greatnesses. The achieving through armor is the bodhisattva’s practice of the six perfections within each of the six perfections. With the achieving through engagement, the bodhisattva engages with joyous effort in practices such as developing the meditative absorptions, six perfections, four immeasurables and so forth. The achieving through collections is accomplished mainly through the two vast collections of merit and wisdom. This leads to the definitely issuing achieving, which is a practice that definitely issues forth without doubt the exalted knower of all aspects.


Chapter Two: The Knower of Paths
The knower of paths is the exalted knower that completely realizes the paths of the three vehicles. As there are trainees of different levels - those following the hearer vehicle, those following the solitary realizer vehicle, and those following the bodhisattva vehicle - in order to guide them, a bodhisattva must develop respectively a knower of paths that knows the paths of hearers, a knower of paths that knows the paths of solitary realizers, and a knower of paths that knows the paths of bodhisattvas. In other words, a bodhisattva must gain the exalted wisdom realizing the selflessness of persons, the exalted wisdom realizing non-duality (the emptiness of apprehenders and apprehendeds being different substances), and the exalted wisdom realizing the emptiness of true existence of all phenomena in order to guide different trainees on their paths to enlightenment.

There are many misconceptions regarding the path that leads to enlightenment. For example, someone thinks that, since the omniscient mind directly realizes all phenomena, it is only necessary to meditate on one reality as an object without meditating on the paths of all three vehicles in order to attain it. Someone else thinks that by merely taking refuge in the Three Jewels one can attain enlightenment, and also that cultivating despair regarding cyclic existence is a correct practice for hearers and solitary realizers but not for bodhisattvas, who enter cyclic existence for the welfare of others. In order to negate these wrong conceptions, the knower of paths is explained apart in this second chapter.It is also explained so that trainees are aware that in order to directly realize and attain the very exalted knower of all aspects, one must meditate thoroughly on and completely know the knower of paths that leads to it, since without this knowledge there is no attainment of enlightenment.

The definition of a knower of paths is: a mahayana superior’s clear realizer conjoined with the wisdom directly realizing emptiness in the continuum of the person who possesses it. It is mutually inclusive with the exalted knower of a mahayana superior. This means that all the exalted knowers of a mahayana superior (either a bodhisattva superior or a buddha superior) are conjoined with or influenced by his direct realization of emptiness and are knowers of paths. When divided, there are three: a knower of paths that knows hearers’ paths, a knower of paths that knows solitary realizers’ paths, and a knower of paths that knows mahayana paths.

In this chapter the knower of paths is illustrated by eleven topics. The first topic, the limbs of a knower of paths, explains the cause, entity, and result of a knower of paths. The second topic, the knower of paths that knows hearers’ paths, explains the realizations that are cultivated by a bodhisattva in order to lead trainees of the hearer’s lineage. These realizations are shared with the hearers in the sense that hearers exert effort to develop these realizations in order to achieve their goal of liberation from cyclic existence. The principal realization is the exalted wisdom directly realizing the selflessness of persons, i.e., the lack of a self-sufficient, substantially existent self of person.

The third topic, the knower of paths that knows solitary realizers’ paths, refers to the realizations that are cultivated by a bodhisattva for leading trainees of the solitary realizer’s lineage. Here the principal realization is the exalted wisdom directly realizing non-duality, i.e., the emptiness of apprehenders and apprehendeds being different substances. These two topics highlight that a bodhisattva has to actually generate such realizations in his continuum.

The knower of paths of the mahayana paths is divided into two: the mahayana path of seeing (the fourth topic) and the mahayana path of meditation. During the meditative equipoise of the mahayana path of seeing, the bodhisattva directly realizes the emptiness of true existence for the first time. This meditative equipoise is divided into sixteen moments: dharma forbearance, dharma knowledge, subsequent forbearance, and subsequent knowledge with respect to each of the four noble truths. According to the Svatantrika Madhyamika, all eight forbearances occur simultaneously on the uninterrupted path of the path of seeing, while all eight knowledges occur simultaneously on the path of release of the path of seeing.

Subsequent to the path of seeing, there is the path of meditation when the bodhisattva familiarizes himself with the direct realization of emptiness repeatedly in order to abandon the innate obstructions. The beneficial results of cultivating the path of meditation are presented in the fifth topic, the function of the mahayana path of meditation, followed by a presentation in two divisions of the mahayana path of meditation itself: the contaminated and uncontaminated paths of meditation. In this context, contaminated means conceptual, while uncontaminated means non-conceptual.

The contaminated paths of meditation are the mahayana paths of meditation of belief, dedication, and rejoicing. The path of meditation of belief, the sixth topic, refers to the belief or conviction that each of the three – the scriptural, path and resultant perfections of wisdom – is a source of the three aims, of oneself, others, and both. A presentation of its beneficial qualities is the seventh topic. The path of meditation of dedication, the eighth topic, describes the practice of dedication when one’s or others’ roots of virtue are transformed into a cause for complete enlightenment. The path of meditation of rejoicing, the ninth topic, cultivates joy in one’s own or others’ roots of virtue.

The uncontaminated paths of meditation are the path of meditation of achieving (tenth topic) and the completely pure path of meditation (eleventh topic). They are mutually inclusive. Both occur during the meditative equipoise of the path of meditation. The difference between them is that the path of meditation of achieving establishes the imprint of the final realization, which is either the exalted wisdom of an exalted knower of all aspects or the wisdom truth body, while the completely pure path of meditation establishes the imprint of the final abandonment, the true cessations of all obstructions, both afflictive and knowledge.


Chapter Three: The Knower of Bases
T he first chapter explains the exalted knower of all aspects, the omniscient mind, in order to make disciples delight in hearing about the result and to generate interest in achieving it. In order to attain that omniscient mind one needs a path, therefore in the second chapter the knower of paths is explained. In order to complete the knower of paths one needs initially to engage in the practices that are related to the knower of bases, the four noble truths and their sixteen attributes such as impermanence and so forth. This is because without thoroughly knowing the bases, there will not be a thorough understanding of the paths of the three vehicles. Therefore the knower of bases is now explained.

When the Ornament is related to the lam-rim teachings it can be said that the third chapter mainly presents the practice of a person of middling capacity, the second chapter mainly presents the practice of a person of great capacity, and the first chapter mainly presents the result of practicing the bodhisattva path. By first seeing the result one is inspired to practice and comes to understand that to achieve this result one must engage first in the practices shared with persons of small and middling capacities and then the practices of the person of great capacity; therefore, the second and third chapters are presented.

The knower of bases, also called the knower of all, is defined in the Seventy Topics as: an exalted wisdom abiding within a lesser vehicle class of realizations conjoined with the wisdom directly realizing selflessness in the continuum of the person who possesses it.

The measure of abiding in a lesser vehicle class of realizations is that that exalted wisdom is taken by a hinayana learner as his main object of cultivation with a similar observed object and aspect of it, for example, an exalted wisdom directly realizing impermanence. Moreover, it is conjoined with the wisdom directly realizing the selflessness of persons, i.e., the lack of a self-sufficient substantially existent self of persons. Such knowers of bases exist in the continua of all superiors, since all superiors necessarily have directly realized the selflessness of persons.

The knower of bases is illustrated by nine topics. The first six explain the entity of the knower of bases in the continuum of a bodhisattva and how this is distinguished from a knower of bases in the continuum of either a hearer or solitary realizer.

The first two topics, the knower of paths not abiding in cyclic existence through knowledge and the knower of paths not abiding in peace through compassion, illustrate that mahayana superiors possess the antidotes to abiding in the two extremes of cyclic existence and solitary peace. They have attained the knowledge, i.e., the wisdom directly realizing the selflessness of persons, that cuts the root of cyclic existence, and the great compassion that stops the abidance in solitary peace.

The third and fourth topics, the knower of bases distant from the resultant mother and that close to the resultant mother, show that mahayana superiors have cultivated great compassion (method) and the wisdom directly realizing emptiness of true existence (wisdom), due to which they are close to the attainment of buddhahood, the resultant mother, whereas hinayana practitioners are distant from buddhahood because they are devoid of great compassion and bound by the conception of true existence. Therefore, the knower of bases in the continua of hinayana superiors is called “knower of bases of the discordant class” (the fifth topic) because they are the discordant class to the path of bodhisattvas. Bodhisattvas are to abandon them and engage instead in generating the “knower of bases of the antidote class” (the sixth topic). The knower of bases distant from the resultant mother and the knower of bases of the discordant class are mutually inclusive, and similarly, the knower of bases close to the resultant mother and the knower of bases of the antidote class are mutually inclusive.

Following this explanation of the entity of the knower of bases of the bodhisattva, the next two topics explain the bodhisattvas’ applications. The seventh topic presents the bodhisattva’s applications that realize the emptiness of true existence and stop the mistaken settling on true existence of all phenomena. The eighth topic presents the nature of these applications - they are bodhisattva’s yogas conjoined with the wisdom realizing that the object and object-possessor (subject) are equal in not existing truly.

As a result of cultivating these applications on the mahayana path of preparation, the mahayana path of seeing arises. Hence, the mahayana path of seeing is explained as the ninth topic. It is presented in terms of the sixteen moments of knowledges and forbearances, there being the four - (1) dharma forbearance, (2) dharma knowledge, (3) subsequent forbearance, and (4) subsequent knowledge - for each of the four truths. These sixteen are explained to have individual aspects that are related to the sixteen attributes of the four noble truths. However, in terms of entity, they are all direct realizations of emptiness of true existence, with the eight forbearances arising simultaneously as the uninterrupted path of the path of seeing and the eight knowledges arising simultaneously as the path of release of the path of seeing.


Chapter Four: Complete Aspects Application
The complete aspects application, the fourth of the eight clear realizations explained in the Ornament, is the subject of chapter four. The complete aspects application is a means by which one cultivates the three exalted knowers – the knower of bases, the knower of paths, and the exalted knower of all aspects – in order to attain buddhahood. He does so by meditating on all the aspects of these three exalted knowers, which are the twenty-seven aspects of the knower of bases, the thirty-six aspects of the knower of paths, and the 110 aspects of the exalted knower of all aspects. There are 173 aspects in all.

In general, these 173 aspects are cultivated by means of the four applications – the complete aspects application, peak application, serial application, and momentary application. What is an application? Its Tibetan name, jor wa (sbyor ba), has a multitude of meanings, such as connect, join, or prepare. In this case, an application is a method for joining to buddhahood or preparing for buddhahood. The complete aspects application is the means by which one joins to buddhahood through familiarizing oneself with the 173 aspects and thus gain mastery over them. This is done by meditating on a compendium of the aspects with a union of calm abiding and special insight. The other three applications further develop and refine this wisdom until the bodhisattva is able to correctly meditate on all 173 aspects serially in the shortest moment of a complete action at the last moment of the bodhisattva’s continuum as a sentient being, just prior to reaching buddhahood.

Although the three exalted knowers have been presented in the first three chapters, there is no redundancy in presenting their 173 aspects again in the fourth chapter because they are presented for different purposes. In the first three chapters the uncommon individual entities and characteristics of the three exalted knowers are presented for the sake of developing a thorough knowledge of them, whereas here in the fourth chapter all the aspects of these knowers are presented without exception in order to familiarize with them by means of an application that is a union of calm abiding and special insight, as well as to gain mastery over the aspects.

The definition of a complete aspects application is: a bodhisattva’s yoga conjoined with the wisdom cultivating a compendium of the aspects of the three exalted knowers. A bodhisattva’s yoga is a clear realizer of a bodhisattva that is a union of calm abiding and special insight. The complete aspects application initially arises on the mahayana path of accumulation and continues through the end of the continuum as a sentient being. All bodhisattva’s paths, clear realizations, and exalted wisdoms – these being synonymous – are complete aspects applications.

The complete aspects application is illustrated by eleven topics. The first is the knower-aspects of the antidote class. These are the 173 aspects of the three exalted knowers, such as the exalted wisdom realizing impermanence and so forth, that are the antidotes to the different discordant classes, such as the misconception grasping at permanence. Here, the knower-aspects are referring to the exalted wisdoms that realize, while object-aspects are the objects that are being realized. The second topic presents the principal applications that bodhisattvas engage in. They are conjoined with the wisdom realizing emptiness and act to overcome the conceptions of true existence.

In order to inspire trainees, the third topic presents the excellent qualities of the applications - the benefits that are attained by cultivating the mahayana applications. The fourth topic covers the faults of the applications to help trainees avoid pitfalls in practice that can interfere with the production, abidance, or completion of these applications. The fifth topic is the characteristics of the applications. These characteristics are presented in order to help trainees understand the principal applications’ individual characteristics, enabling them to practice them appropriately.

Regarding the stages of generation of these different realizations in the mahayana vehicle, the sixth topic presents the initial path in which the complete aspects application is generated – the mahayana partial concordance with liberation. This is also known as the mahayana path of accumulation. Subsequent to this is the mahayana path of preparation, or the mahayana partial concordance with definite discrimination, which is the seventh topic. This topic addresses the subsequent attainment period of the mahayana path of preparation, that is, subsequent to the meditative equipoise meditating on emptiness. Also on this path is found a special group of bodhisattvas, the bodhisattva sangha who have attained a sign of irreversibility (the eighth topic). Since the signs that indicate to trainees that a bodhisattva is irreversible from complete enlightenment first arise for sharp-facultied bodhisattvas on the mahayana partial concordance with definite discrimination, this topic is presented here.

When bodhisattvas reach the eighth bodhisattva ground, they have definitely attained the signs of irreversibility, whether dull or sharp-facultied. At this time, these bodhisattvas have entered the three pure bodhisattva grounds and are creating the causes for attaining the three bodies of a buddha through engaging in the next three applications. The application in the equality of cyclic existence and peace (the ninth topic) presents the applications that give rise to the truth body of a buddha. The application in a pure land (the tenth topic) presents the applications that give rise to the complete enjoyment body of a buddha, and the application in skillful means (the eleventh topic) presents the applications that give rise to the emanation body of a buddha. In this manner, the presentation of the entire path to enlightenment is also found within the presentation of the topics illustrating the complete aspects application.

Chapter Five: Peak Application
Having presented the application in complete aspects that cultivates a compendium of the 173 aspects of the three exalted knowers in order to gain mastery over them, the peak application that has gained this mastery is presented. To gain mastery over the 173 aspects means to have gained the ability to meditate on all 173 aspects in a single session in the correct order and without leaving any out.

The definition of peak application is: a bodhisattva’s yoga conjoined with the wisdom highly transformed from the mahayana path of accumulation that cultivates a compendium of the three exalted knowers. It is mutually inclusive with achieving through engaging presented in the first chapter. “Highly transformed from the mahayana path of accumulation” means that it has become a mahayana path of preparation. Therefore, the boundaries of the peak application are from the mahayana path of preparation through the end of the continuum of the sentient being.

In this chapter the peak application is illustrated by eight topics. The first four - the peak application of heat, peak, tolerance, and supreme mundane qualities - occur on the path of preparation. The peak application of heat presents the twelve signs of the attainment of peak application, which are related to three periods: the waking state, dream state, and both. Signs in dreams means, for example, a bodhisattva who is very familiar with his own vehicle will not have any desire to enter the lower vehicle even in a dream; he will not generate a mind toward the hearer ground. And if one has this awareness during the dream state, one necessarily has it when awake. Of the twelve signs, the first six are related to the dream state, the seventh and eighth exist both in the waking and dream states, and the last four occur during the waking state.

The peak application of peak occurs on the occasion of the peak level of the path of preparation. The root text says that this has more merit than the merit from all sentient beings of the billion world systems making offerings to the buddhas. There are sixteen aspects of this peak application which are explained in accordance with the increase in merits attained by them, with the later ones being more superior than the earlier ones. They are divided into two groups of eight, one group in relation to the internal and one the external.

At the tolerance level of the path of preparation, the bodhisattva achieves the peak application of tolerance. This is called “stability” because the bodhisattva has attained stable method and wisdom in that he will not forsake the welfare of sentient beings and he has attained a wisdom approximate to the three exalted knowers.

Then at the point of the peak application of supreme mundane qualities, one has fully developed meditative stabilization, the always abiding mind. This implies that this bodhisattva is close to the path of seeing and is about to attain it.

The fifth topic is the peak application of the path of seeing. In this context, four principal groups of conceptions of true existence making a total of thirty-six conceptions are abandoned: conceptions of apprehendeds to be engaged in, conceptions of apprehendeds to be turned away from, conceptions of apprehenders of substantial existents, and conception of apprehenders of imputed existents. These are acquired conceptions of true existence due to wrong tenets and reasonings. Both the causes and result of the peak application of the path of seeing are explained. Since the result is identified to be the great enlightenment, there is an explanation of great enlightenment. During meditative equipoise a bodhisattva on the path of seeing meditates on the emptiness of true existence of phenomena, while in subsequent attainment, he meditates on the twelve links of dependent and related arising in the forward and reverse orders. Therefore, the twelve links are also discussed.

The sixth topic is the peak application of the path of meditation. Here the path of meditation itself, the objects of abandonment, and the beneficial qualities of the path of meditation are presented. The leaping absorptions are described in the context of the entity of the path of meditation. The objects of abandonment of the path of meditation are also four sets of conceptions of true existence of the apprehended and apprehender. These are, however, the innate conceptions whereas those abandoned on the path of seeing are the acquired conceptions.

Uninterrupted peak application is the seventh topic illustrating the peak application. It is mutually inclusive with the exalted wisdom at the end of the continuum of the sentient being and acts to directly produce its result, the exalted knower of all aspects. It is “uninterrupted” since there is no interruption between itself and its result.

As for the perverse conceptions that are eliminated by the peak application, these are presented as the eighth topic, the perverse achievings to be eliminated. There are sixteen of them and are related to the wrong conception holding the two truths as being unsuitable to be included in a single entity. They are due to not understanding that phenomena exist conventionally but are empty of true existence. Instead, various perverse conceptions arise holding that phenomena that are empty of existing truly or ultimately, such as the exalted knower of all aspects, are inappropriate because if phenomena do not exist truly or ultimately, they do not exist at all.


Chapter Six: Serial Application
While the complete aspects application is related to the meditation on the 173 aspects of the three exalted knowers in order to attain mastery over them, the serial application is related to the meditation on those aspects serially in order to attain steadiness with respect to them. To meditate serially is to meditate on all 173 aspects of the three exalted knowers following a definite sequence. This is compared to showing a race horse the particular race track that it will be racing on for several days ahead of time so that it can familiarize with the different parts of the track and easily run the race on the actual day. This application culminates in the momentary application, which is the last moment in the continuum of a sentient being, when steadiness has been achieved.

The definition of serial application is: a bodhisattva’s yoga conjoined with a wisdom that serially cultivates the aspects of the three exalted knowers for the sake of attaining steadiness with respect to the aspects of the three exalted knowers. It has thirteen divisions.

A serial application is necessarily conjoined with a wisdom cultivating the 173 aspects serially, but it itself is not necessarily cultivating these aspects serially. For example, the serial application of recollection of the buddha is the recollection of the causes for attaining buddhahood and the qualities of the buddha while conjoined with a wisdom that cultivates the 173 aspects serially.


Chapter Seven: Momentary Application
Momentary application is the last uninterrupted path of the path of meditation that will in the next moment issue forth the final result, the complete enlightenment of a buddha. It is the result of cultivating all the aspects of the three exalted knowers serially, such that at this moment steadiness with respect to these aspects has been attained and all the aspects are realized in the shortest moment of a complete action. In fact, this bodhisattva has completed all the direct causes to have a direct realization of all phenomena simultaneously.

The definition of momentary application is: a bodhisattva’s final yoga that has attained steadiness with respect to the aspects of the three exalted knowers. It is mutually inclusive with the exalted wisdom at the end of the continuum of the sentient being. It has four divisions: fully ripened momentary application, non-fully ripened momentary application, characterless momentary application, and non-dual momentary application.

What is the meaning of fully ripened and non-fully ripened? There are different explanations of them. According to Gyeltshap Je’s Ornament of Essential Explanation, fully ripened means attained or completed, whereas non-fully ripened means not attained or not completed. Thus, all the uncontaminateds on the seventh ground and below are non-fully ripened, whereas all uncontaminateds from the eighth ground upward are fully ripened. This is because when the bodhisattva on the first through the seventh grounds actualizes a single uncontaminated quality he does so with coarse effort. On the other hand, the uncontaminated qualities of the eighth ground upward are actualized without effort. An example of an uncontaminated non-fully ripened quality is the ten perfections, while that of an uncontaminated fully ripened quality is the 112 signs of a buddha.

According to Lama Tsongkhapa’s Golden Rosary, fully ripened and non-fully ripened are posited from the point of view of objects and not object-possessors because it cannot be said that a momentary application itself is either non-fully ripened or fully ripened. In this way, a fully ripened object is one on the occasion of a fully ripened exalted knower of all aspects, and a non-fully ripened object is one on the occasion of an exalted knower in a bodhisattva’s continuum. This is because if it is an exalted knower of a bodhisattva it is not fully ripened, whereas if it is an exalted knower of all aspects it is fully ripened.

These four momentary applications indicate that the bodhisattva at the end of the continuum of the sentient being has (1) the ability to actualize all uncontaminated non-fully ripened qualities that are similar in type when actualizing a single uncontaminated non-fully ripened quality; (2) the ability to actualize all uncontaminated fully ripened qualities that are similar in type when actualizing a single uncontaminated fully ripened quality; (3) the wisdom directly realizing emptiness; and (4) the wisdom directly realizing non-duality (the emptiness of apprehended and apprehender being different substances).


Chapter Eight: Resultant Truth Body
In the instant immediately following momentary application, there arises manifest complete enlightenment, the resultant truth body. According to the Seventy Topics, the definition of resultant truth body is: the final result attained by the power of cultivating the aspects of the three exalted knowers, the method for its attainment. Therefore, the purpose of cultivating the aspects of the three exalted knowers by means of the four applications is to attain the resultant truth body.

In this chapter, the resultant truth body is presented in terms of four divisions: (1) the nature body, (2) the wisdom truth body, (3) the enjoyment body, and (4) the emanation body. The nature body and the wisdom truth body are also referred to as the truth bodies while the enjoyment body and the emanation body are the form bodies. These bodies are the result of completing the two collections of merit and wisdom.

The nature body is defined as: a final sphere possessing the two purities. The two purities are purity of natural stains and purity of adventitious stains. A natural stain is not an actual stain; it is merely given the name “stain.” It is the object of negation, true existence. Therefore, the nature body that is the factor of natural purity is the emptiness of true existence of the buddha. The adventitious stains are actual stains; they are the afflictive obstructions and the knowledge obstructions. Hence, the nature body that is the factor of adventitious purity is the true cessations of these two obstructions in the continuum of the buddha superior. For the Svatantrika Madhyamika, a nature body is posited in two ways: one that is an ultimate truth, an emptiness of true existence, and one that is a conventional truth, a true cessation. For them, a true cessation is not an emptiness, whereas for Prasangika Madhyamika, a true cessation is also an emptiness and an ultimate truth.

The wisdom truth body is defined as: an exalted knower that is the final insight regarding modes and varieties. This refers to the enlightened mind of a buddha. Here, modes are emptinesses of true existence while varieties are all phenomena excluding emptinesses. According to Jetsun Chogyi Gyeltsen, if it is a consciousness in the continuum of a buddha superior, it is necessarily a wisdom truth body and an exalted knower of all aspects that realizes all phenomena. Other scholars, however, assert that the sense consciousnesses of a buddha superior are not exalted knowers of all aspects.

Since the two truth bodies of a buddha are not accessible to sentient beings, in order to benefit them, there arise the buddha's form bodies. The complete enjoyment body is only perceived by bodhisattva superiors, not ordinary beings. It possesses the five certainties, such as only teaching the Mahayana dharma and so forth. The emanation bodies appear according to the fortune of the sentient beings in order to lead them on the path to enlightenment. These are of different types, such as artisan emanation body, incarnate emanation body, and supreme emanation body. Although these bodies appear to have flesh, body hair, veins and so forth, they are composed neither of gross matter nor subtle particles. They are rather of the nature of the exalted wisdom of the buddha.

There is also a presentation of the twenty-seven types of enlightened activities of the wisdom truth body. The enlightened activity is divided into two: that existing in the object of the action, that is, the trainee, and that existing in the agent, the buddha superior. It is said that every virtue we ordinary beings possess arises due to the enlightened activity of the wisdom truth body. In other words, only due to the blessing of the buddhas do we create roots of virtue.

This concludes the presentation of the Ornament in terms of eight summarized categories. In order to benefit other trainees who delight in a less extensive explanation compared to this, there are also the presentation in six categories and three categories.