Path of seeing

The path of seeing (Tib. tonglam; Wyl. mthong lam) is the third of the five paths. It is divided into sixteen moments.

Patrul Rinpoche:

“It is called the path of seeing because it is here that one first sees the supermundane wisdom of the noble ones.”

• The Path of Seeing is the point of full realization of the Four Noble Truths.

• At the path of seeing one becomes an Arya, or a sublime one. Arya literally means noble or sublime. The Tibetan word for Arya (pakpa; ‘phags pa) means elevated or exalted, as in elevated above the level of an ordinary, samsaric being.

• The path of seeing marks the point of the first bhumi. The first bhumi also includes post-meditation. Gyaltsab Darma Rinchen claimed that there is post-meditation on the path of seeing, but other scholars, such as Gorampa, claim that it is taken up entirely with meditative equipoise.