For an Arhat, only a partial realization of emptiness has been attained—namely, the selflessness of persons (pudgalanairātmya). However, the grasping at the self of phenomena (dharmātmagrāha) still manifests in the form of indivisible instants, and partless particles.
Yet all sentient beings appearing within our own mental continuum are, in fact, manifestations arising from the Ālaya-consciousness (ālaya-vijñāna). If one does not realize that sentient beings themselves are also empty, one cannot fully realize the emptiness of mind. To generate Mahāyāna bodhicitta is precisely to take all sentient beings as one's object of aspiration and realize that they, too, are empty. Sentient beings are appearances within my own mental continuum, and likewise, I am merely an appearance within the mental continuums of other sentient beings.
As mentioned earlier, generating Mahāyāna bodhicitta has two essential elements. The first is to take all sentient beings as the object of one's aspiration. In reality, the Ālaya-consciousness already contains karmic seeds relating to every sentient being, because throughout beginningless saṃsāra we have formed karmic relationships with them—some distant, some intimate, and at times as close as that between a mother and child. In other words, every sentient being has corresponding karmic seeds stored within our Ālaya-consciousness, whether our karmic bonds are intimate or distant.
Only by generating Mahāyāna bodhicitta and aspiring to liberate all sentient beings does one become capable of realizing their emptiness. To realize the emptiness of sentient beings is, in the ultimate sense, to liberate them. Genuine realization is not merely understanding that the nature of the mental continuum is the inseparable union of luminosity and emptiness; it must also be all-pervasive, leaving no aspect of experience outside emptiness. Nothing whatsoever can remain as an exception. The all-embracing great compassion of bodhicitta is perfectly aligned with this all-pervasive realization.
The second essential element is to take Buddhahood as the object of one's aspiration. The fruition of Buddhahood inherently includes wisdom—namely, the Prajñā view of emptiness. This means directly realizing that both the perceiving subject and the perceived object are empty: the subject is understood as indivisible instants, while the object is understood as partless particles.
Only when one has aroused Mahāyāna bodhicitta and directly realized the emptiness of both subject and object can one truly be said to awaken to the great emptiness, in which all phenomena without exception are empty. Without generating Mahāyāna bodhicitta, it is impossible either to realize emptiness completely, or to avoid a one-sided or partial realization of emptiness. This is the theoretical relationship between bodhicitta and the realization of great emptiness, and it is a particularly profound principle.
— Excerpted and compiled from Genuine Bodhicitta and Conceptual Bodhicitta
This article is a preliminary translation draft and has not yet been reviewed or proofread by the speaker.
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