Question asked by Rojal Poudel
The path of Arahantship and Buddhahood are different from what I’ve heard. The integrated practices of Samatha and Vipassana lead to the realization of emptiness which is crucial for the state of an Arahant. The state of Buddhahood is from the path of Bodhisattva. It works in accordance to 10 Bhumis and it takes 3 countless eons. I was wondering if one could use the integrated practices of Samatha and Vipassana to lead to the realization of emptiness in this very lifetime which is the 1st Bhumi? If that’s the case, after the realization of emptiness, can one transition to the path of Vajrayana?
Dear Rojal Poudel, Thanks for your questions. Let me clarify a few points because there’s a subtle but important distinction being missed here. Both Arhats and Buddhas realize emptiness — this is a key point. The difference between them is not that one realises emptiness and the other doesn’t. Rather, the difference lies in motivation and the breadth of accumulation.
An Arhat, motivated primarily by renunciation (the determination to be free from samsara), realises the emptiness of self and achieves liberation from cyclic existence. A Bodhisattva, motivated by bodhichitta — the wish to attain full Buddhahood for the sake of all sentient beings — realises that same emptiness but does so within the framework of the vast Bodhisattva deeds, the accumulation of both merit and wisdom over the course of the path.
So emptiness is common ground; what differs is the container it sits within. Tsongkhapa makes this very clear in his Lamrim Chenmo text: without renunciation, practice has no foundation; without bodhichitta, that practice cannot lead to Buddhahood; and without the correct view of emptiness, neither liberation nor enlightenment is possible. All three principal aspects of the path work together.
Now, regarding your specific question — yes, the union of shamatha and vipashyana (I’ve used the Sanskrit terms because Tibetan Buddhism comes from the Sanskrit Mahayana tradition) focused on emptiness is precisely the method taught for gaining direct realisation of emptiness.
In the Bodhisattva’s framework, this direct non-conceptual realisation of emptiness corresponds to the Path of Seeing, which is indeed the entry into the first bhumi, “Joyful”. However — and this is important — arriving at the first bhumi is not simply a matter of good meditation technique in isolation. According to the Lamrim and the Abhisamayalamkara literature, a practitioner must first go through the Paths of Accumulation and Preparation, which involve generating genuine bodhichitta (not just an intellectual understanding but a spontaneous, uncontrived wish), accumulating vast merit, purifying obscurations, and developing increasingly refined conceptual and then non-conceptual insight into emptiness.
The first bhumi is an extraordinary attainment. At that stage, a Bodhisattva can manifest a hundred emanations, visit a hundred pure lands, and ripen the karma of countless beings. So while the method (shamatha-vipashyana on emptiness) is correct, the prerequisites are a lot.
As for transitioning to Vajrayana — absolutely, and in fact this is exactly what the Gelug tradition encourages as the ideal architecture of the path. The Lamrim lays the sutra foundation (renunciation, bodhichitta, correct view), and Vajrayana — specifically Highest Yoga Tantra — provides the methods to dramatically accelerate the journey through the bhumis and the two accumulations.
However, you do not need to wait until the first bhumi to enter Vajrayana; in fact, most practitioners receive tantric empowerments and begin those practices well before the Path of Seeing, using them as the vehicle to actually reach those higher realisations more swiftly.
This is why Tsongkhapa composed both the Lamrim Chenmo and the Ngakrim Chenmo (Great Exposition of Tantra). They are understood as a complementary pair, sutra and tantra woven together. The three countless eons spoken of in the Sutrayana path can, through the unique methods of Vajrayana be compressed into as few as one lifetime in the best case, or a handful of lifetimes. But the foundation must be there. Without authentic renunciation, bodhichitta, and at least a correct conceptual understanding of emptiness, tantric practice lacks the ground it needs to function as intended.
I hope this helps!