The five exalted wisdoms: unpacking the meaning of omniscience

Apologies for the grandiose title – it’s not that I’m qualified to explain this but that I’m still in awe of the five-pronged vajras on our temple and the five omniscient wisdoms they embody. What would it be like to have these?! Seems like it would be a lot of fun. I can tell you some of what they mean to me, at least, and would love to hear what they mean to you. (Sorry in advance for the length of this article – feel free to read it in installments 😁)

Carrying on from this last article: The significance of the Dharma wheel, deer, and vajras on Buddhist temples.

I dedicate this article to Chris Wilkinson, who died today. A humble, kind, beloved, and long-time disciple of Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Chris helped the temples in so many ways. May he go straight to Keajra.

The exalted wisdom of the Dharmadhatu

The exalted wisdom of the Dharmadhatu realizes the Dharmadhatu, the ultimate nature of all phenomena. ~ Tharpa Glossary

This omniscient wisdom directly realizes the selflessness of all phenomena, inseparable from great bliss and permanently free from all mistaken appearances. With our ordinary dualistic awareness purified into a realization of the union of the two truths, we see ourself, everyone else, and all phenomena as they really are.

I like to start by imagining this wisdom because the other wisdoms seem to exist within it. There is nothing outside of the union of great bliss and emptiness; all phenomena are the nature of this completely purified omniscient mind, a dream of everything and everyone that exists. As I say in this article: Buddhas required, apply within:

“For someone who has gotten rid of all traces of mistaken appearance and is abiding in reality,  all living beings are mere appearance of their mind of great bliss and emptiness. Living beings do not falsely seem to exist in any way above and beyond mere name, from their own side, or objectively. Within that omniscient wisdom is both the universal compassion and the ability to reach each and every living being every day with blessings and emanations. Indeed, it is impossible for a Buddha to ever be separated from any living being, even for a nano-second.”

I feel that the wisdom of the Dharmadhatu contains the understanding that all emptinesses are the same nature. As Venerable Geshe Kelsang says in Modern Buddhism:

If we look at ten bottles, we can distinguish ten different spaces inside the bottles, but in reality these spaces are the same nature; and if we break the bottles the spaces become indistinguishable. In the same way, although we can speak of the emptiness of the body, the mind, the I, and so forth, in reality they are the same nature and indistinguishable.

The exalted wisdom of equality

The exalted wisdom of equality realizes that all phenomena are equal in emptiness. ~ Tharpa Glossary

If we understand how all emptinesses are the same nature, it’s not such a leap to understand how all phenomena are equal in emptiness. As Venerable Geshe Kelsang says in Modern Buddhism, a benefit of understanding that all emptinesses are the same nature is that:

in the meditation break we will be able to see all appearances as equal manifestations of their emptiness.

As he explains in Ocean of Nectar:

Even though conventionally phenomena have their own uncommon signs by which they are identified, these signs, and the phenomena that possess them, are all equally empty of inherent existence because none of these conventional phenomena exists with respect to the exalted awareness of meditative equipoise of a Superior being.

Got that?!

This exalted awareness of meditative equipoise of a Superior being is a direct, or non-conceptual, realization of ultimate truth emptiness possessed by a Superior Bodhisattva or a Buddha. Buddhas have it all the time; Superior Bodhisattvas go in and out. Here is something deep but worth contemplating: for that exalted awareness, “none of these conventional phenomena exists”! So what do Buddhas actually see with their omniscient wisdom?! (Don’t ask me! Lol).

Practically speaking, we can distinguish phenomena only by thought or by label because they are equal in existing not even slightly from their own side. In Modern Buddhism, Geshe-la says:

In ordinary life we experience many different objects – good, bad, attractive, unattractive – and our feelings toward them differ. Because we feel that the differences exist from the side of the objects, our mind is unbalanced and we develop attachment to attractive objects, aversion to unattractive objects, and indifference to neutral objects.

These three poisons simply cannot exist in a Buddha’s mind. If we have the wisdom of equality:

Everything becomes very peaceful and comfortable, balanced and harmonious, joyful and wonderful. There is no heat, no cold, no lower, no higher, no here, no there, no self, no other, no samsara – everything is equal in the peace of emptiness. ~ Modern Buddhism

This understanding that all phenomena are equal in emptiness also helps us develop great compassion and bodhichitta through exchanging self with others. The self I normally see – the one that seems to be so unique and separated out from everything and everyone – does not exist. if I look for that self within my body and mind, I will never find it. Since I am empty of existing from my own side, I exist as mere projection of mind not other than emptiness. It’s the same for you. And because you and I are equally empty, with no differences existing from our own sides, we can only be imputedly unique or separated out from each other.

This means that we can learn to exchange our self with others, where we impute our I or me on others to develop the deepest empathy and compassion. This realization of the equality of everything in emptiness breaks down every barrier, removes all bias and judgment, and helps us develop unconditional love and wisdom – we will understand Shantideva’s point that we need to get rid of suffering wherever we see it, regardless of who it “belongs” to, simply because it hurts. Check out his proper teaching of equalizing and exchanging self with others as explained by Venerable Geshe-la in Meaningful to Behold, it’s sublime.

The wisdom of equality also means that my Guru’s mind and my mind are equally empty. As Geshe-la said somewhere I read recently (sorry, can’t remember where!), the emptiness of our Guru is therefore not somehow “higher” than the emptiness of me. And this means that I am not inherently separated from him – let alone unworthy – but one with him in emptiness.

The exalted wisdom of individual realization

The exalted wisdom of individual realization realizes all individual phenomena directly. ~ Tharpa Glossary

There are countless objects of knowledge – just try counting up the things you think you know! And then multiply that by countless beings! (One riddle for you: when we talk about “countless objects of knowledge”, whose “knowledge” are we talking about?)

Buddha’s omniscient wisdom precisely discriminates the unique characteristics of each phenomenon without any trace of confusion. That means they’re able to benefit every living being appropriately and in accordance with their individual needs, karmic appearances/projections, and dispositions. Buddhas never muddle anything up, they understand everything that exists crisply and clearly without the slightest mistaken appearance.

They can see this while at the same time seeing that each individual phenomenon is mere label not other than emptiness. It is merely imputed by the mind that imputes it and has no other existence. As Ven Geshe-la said a few years ago:

All phenomena, their own emptiness, appears as themselves. Otherwise all phenomena do not exist.

The exalted mirror-like wisdom

The exalted mirror-like wisdom perceives all phenomena simultaneously as a mirror reflects objects. ~ Tharpa Glossary

This wisdom reflects all phenomena clearly and without distortion, just like a flawless multidimensional mirror. When Venerable Geshe-la gave Buddha Manjushri empowerment in 1999, he said:

One single moment of the omniscient wisdom of a Buddha, which realizes both ultimate truth and conventional truth directly and simultaneously, realizes and understands all phenomena – past, present, and future – directly and simultaneously.

Imagine how handy that will be to realize, directly and simultaneously, all phenomena of the past, present, and future, all living beings, and all of space? And without being remotely overwhelmed or distracted, of course, because we see them as equal in emptiness and never muddle them up (per previous wisdoms).

With this wisdom, the two cloths on our basic mirror-like wisdom are finally removed and our mind is everywhere all at once. For that analogy, see this article, How to broaden your horizons, which includes this great quote from Ocean of Nectar:

In Ornament for Clear Realization, Buddha Maitreya gives three reasons why Buddha’s mind knows all phenomena directly and simultaneously: (1) Buddhas directly realize the two truths of all phenomena because they have completed meditation on the two truths being one entity; (2) Buddhas have complete knowledge of all phenomena being of one taste in the state of emptiness; and (3) a Buddha’s mind is completely free from the two obstructions.

Although our mind is already like a mirror, there is no dualism – no mind here and object there. There is no world beyond the reflection in our mirror-like mind because our mind and its objects are the same nature. More about that here: Experience and reality. https://kadampalife.org/2015/10/12/experience-and-reality/ When we become a Buddha, instead of everything being the nature of our impure, distorted, suffering mind, everything becomes the nature of pure, omniscient, blissful wisdom.

The exalted wisdom of accomplishing activities

The exalted wisdom of accomplishing activities’ function is to accomplish all the activities of a Buddha. ~ Tharpa Glossary

Thanks to the other four wisdoms, Buddhas are able to help each and every living being every day, with the wisdom of accomplishing activities. This includes the ability to bless the minds of each and every being very day and appear emanations. As Geshe-la says:

Since this wisdom has the ability to emanate countless different forms in order to benefit living beings, when we attain this wisdom we can benefit all living beings. ~ Manjushri empowerment 1999

In Introduction to Buddhism, Geshe-la says:

Like the reflections of the moon that effortlessly appear in any body of still water, a Buddha’s emanations spontaneously appear wherever living beings’ minds are capable of perceiving them. Buddhas can emanate in any form whatsoever to help living beings. Sometimes they manifest as Buddhist and sometimes as non-Buddhists. They can manifest as women or men, royalty or beggars law-abiding citizens or criminals. They can even manifest as animals, as wind or rain, or as mountains or islands. Unless we are a Buddha ourself, we cannot possibly say who or what is an emanation of a Buddha. Of all the ways in which a. Buddha helps living beings, the supreme way is by emanating as a Spiritual Guide.

What is that going to be like, to be able to do that?!

In summary

You and everybody you see today has the potential for these five omniscient wisdoms – even the dog straining at his leash outside this café, wanting his Dad to let him run after that squirrel. Even my current foster cat, Savannah (especially her!) An inspiring way to meditate on renunciation and compassion, I find, is to wish for everyone soon to possess these wisdoms, and simply to imagine what that will be like …

Linking our mind to enlightenment

So, the meaning of all this and more is in the five-pronged vajra!! Even without remembering it all, the Dharma wheel, deer, and vajras can help us move away from ordinary appearances and conceptions and link our mind to enlightenment. They embody the entire path so we can recall layers of meaning in one glance. They uplift people’s hearts and inspire reverence, reminding us of our highest potential. They are meditation objects, helping us to hold together profound and blissful meanings.

The vajras radiate rainbow lights of five colors – white, yellow, red, green, and blue – reaching beyond the ends of space and time, purifying the bodies and minds of all living beings.

I’ve also been imagining the five-colored lights pouring from the vajras into my heart, and from there I’m sending five-colored lights out to all living beings in the neighborhood and as far as I like or can imagine.

As mentioned in the last article, I also like to imagine that the vajras on the temple here are cosmically connected with the vajras on temples all over the world, providing a vast protective field.

Practical Tantric practice

If you have a Tantric practice, you’ll probably know that there are many occasions when we purify all worlds and beings with the five wisdoms. For example, in Portugal when Geshe-la explained the Yoga of Inconceivability, he said:

When we receive Highest Yoga Tantra empowerment, we have the commitment to benefit all living beings right now. We have no physical ability to benefit them because we ourselves are sentient beings, and mentally we have no ability because we are still beginners. Therefore, only through imagination, believing with a good heart, we purify the entire world and all sentient beings and transform them into enlightened beings in Pure Land. We can do this practice following the contemplation in the sadhana:

“From the heart of my mind Vajrayogini at the navel, immeasurable five-coloured rays of light radiate – the nature of the five omniscient wisdoms. These purify the entire world and all the beings inhabiting it. The world transforms into the Pure Land of Keajra and the beings into Vajrayogini. They all melt into light and become one single ray? of light. This dissolves into my mind Vajrayogini at the navel.”

Imagination has great meaning. It doesn’t matter what is real truth or not. Real truth is emptiness. We cannot find truth of anything. But believing means imputation. Imagination is imputation. Buddha says everything exists as mere imputation. We should be satisfied. This works very well.

So whether or not we have a Tantric practice yet, we can believe, imagine, or impute these vajras purifying our local and global world by radiating the five-colored lights, and even imagine that our mind of love and compassion goes with them. As the mirror-like wisdom shows, we have no need to journey outwards into the vastness of our galaxy because the spectacular spaciousness of the entire cosmos is already in our mind.

There’s more!

If we want to dive deeper into the meaning, we can remember that we already have the five so-called basic wisdoms, with names like “basic mirror-like wisdom” – they are part of our Buddha nature. (See Clear Light of Bliss for what these are).

Also, our own five aggregates of body and mind transform into the five Buddha families, who are the nature of the five omniscient wisdoms. Each of the omniscient wisdoms appears in the aspect of one of the five Dhyani Buddhas because Buddhas can show their minds as form.

So, when we attain enlightenment, this happens:

1. Our aggregate of form transforms into mirror-like wisdom, the nature of white Vairochana.
2. Our aggregate of feeling transforms into the wisdom of equality, the nature of yellow Ratnasambhava.
3. Our aggregate of discrimination transforms into the wisdom of individual realization, the nature of red Amitabha.
4. Our aggregate of compositional factors transforms into the wisdom of accomplishing activities, the nature of green Amoghasiddhi.
5. Our aggregate of consciousness transforms into the wisdom of the Dharmadhatu, the same nature as blue Akshobya.

(By the way, some Buddhist traditions have Vairochana and Akshobhya the other way around.)

In Tantra, we don’t just admire the five Dhyani Buddhas, we become them. We are training now in being a Buddha, imagining ourselves already there.

Please offer feedback and comments! Thank you.