The Analysis of Intentional Hints

Intentional hints are the subtle signals woven into the Buddha’s words—
guided meanings that point beyond the literal.
They appear in four forms, each serving a distinct purpose in shaping understanding.

Some hints indicate equality.
When the Buddha says, “I myself was the perfect Buddha Vipasyin,”
the implication is not about a past identity but about the undivided nature of the Dharma-body—
the sameness of awakening beneath the shifting forms of time.

Some hints indicate another meaning.
A statement such as “All things are unreal and unproduced”
does not deny the world as experienced;
it directs the listener to a deeper layer of truth—
to the non-literal meaning that phenomena lack intrinsic nature
and arise only through imagination and dependence.

Some hints indicate another time.
When we hear, “Those who aspire to Sukhāvatī will be born there,”
the implication concerns the future,
pointing toward the unfolding of karmic ripening across lifetimes.

Some hints indicate personal disposition.
The same act of virtue may be praised in one person and criticized in another—
encouraging the beginner,
but urging the more advanced not to grow complacent on a small achievement.
The meaning adjusts itself to the student’s maturity.

The Obstacles and Their Remedies

Beings are obstructed by many veils:
contempt for the Buddha, contempt for the Dharma,
laziness, complacency with small progress,
passion, pride, guilt,
and the deviation of those who drift from the universal vehicle.

The supreme vehicle exists precisely as the remedy for these obscurations.
Its teachings dismantle every fault that prevents beings
from recognizing their own potential for awakening.

Each fault meets its medicine:

– Contempt for the Buddha is healed by teachings revealing the continuity of awakening across ages.
– Contempt for the Dharma is healed by revealing its vast lineage and depth.
– Laziness is shaken loose by teachings that promise the fruit of aspiration.
– Complacency is challenged when gifts once praised are later shown as insufficient.
– Passion is cooled by descriptions of pure realms.
– Pride is humbled by praise of the unimaginably exalted qualities of other buddhas.
– Guilt dissolves when even those who harmed awakened beings are said to ascend to heaven.
– Deviance from the universal vehicle is healed by prophecies and teachings affirming its scope and path.

Thus the supreme vehicle clears the mind,
removing every barrier between a being and liberation.

The Ten Benefits of Understanding This Teaching

A spiritual genius who truly understands this framework—
whether through precise phrasing or intuitive insight—
opens the way to ten extraordinary benefits.

There is a total increase of the element:
all qualities based in the universal vehicle grow,
as faith in the vast path becomes unobstructed.

There is supreme joy at the time of death,
for clarity replaces fear and one departs with confidence.

There is voluntary reincarnation,
the freedom to choose one’s next birth for the benefit of beings.

There is memory of former lives,
the continuity of wisdom extending backward.

There is encounter with awakened ones,
meeting them directly across realms.

There is learning the universal vehicle from them,
instruction given without obscuration.

There is faith endowed with intelligence,
devotion fused with discernment and deep insight.

There are the two doorways—
the doorway of meditative concentration
and the doorway of mnemonic mastery—
both opening into deeper command of mind and meaning.

And finally, there is swift enlightenment,
the rapid unfolding of the path once these foundations are secure.

Two of these benefits manifest in this life.
Eight ripen across future lives.
Together they mark a steady ascent—
each stage higher, clearer, more complete.