བཟོད་པ། | Glossary of Terms

The sūtra tradition speaks of three levels of intellectual receptivity or acceptance of the Dharma. At the highest level is “the acceptance of the fact that things do not arise” (anutpattikadharmakṣānti), which is tantamount to an acceptance of the emptiness of all things, the fact that they do not arise or cease as substantial or essentially real phenomena. This level follows from a second level of acceptance, which brings one into conformity with the Dharma (ānulomika­dharmakṣānti). This second level is in turn preceded by a first stage of acceptance in which one follows the voice (ghoṣānugā kṣānti) of the teacher of the Dharma. This is a distinctive but related use of the term kṣānti, which is also translated in this sūtra as “patience,” when it refers to the perfection and virtue of “patience” (kṣānti) more generally.