The Four Purities

T1606 opens by noting that these four purities, taken in their fullest and most complete form, belong exclusively to the World-Honored One and to bodhisattva-mahāsattvas who have already attained great spiritual power — not to ordinary noble ones more broadly. Purity of basis unfolds in three parts: taking on a new basis of rebirth exactly when and where one wishes, sustaining one's own lifespan for exactly as long as one wishes once that rebirth has occurred, and relinquishing that same lifespan exactly when one wishes to lay it down. Purity of object likewise unfolds in three parts through the very meaning of "transformation" itself: conjuring what did not previously exist into present existence, converting what already exists into some other substance entirely — form transmuted into gold or silver, for instance — and, third, the penetrating knowledge that discerns every distinct kind of object involved in doing so. Purity of mind is the capacity to enter any of countless distinct concentrations, moment by moment, entirely at will, without any of the usual gradual preparation such entry would ordinarily require. And purity of wisdom rests on mastery of the mnemonic gateways: reflecting on any single one of the forty-two foundational syllables is itself sufficient, once genuinely mastered, to unlock skillful command over the distinguishing names and terms belonging to every dharma without exception — a single thread that, once pulled, draws the entire fabric of correct terminology along with it.