Audio recorded at Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 82-minute teaching, Kyabje Rinpoche establishes bodhicitta—the intention to free all sentient beings from suffering and guide them to enlightenment—as the essential motivation for practice. He examines Buddha Śākyamūni’s instruction on ethical discipline and the ten non-virtuous deeds of body, speech, and mind, explaining how they obstruct progress. The session centers on meditation as repeated mental habituation to virtue: he clarifies why meditation posture matters (a straight spine straightens the subtle channels, allowing the mind to become clear), the need for careful analysis before focusing the mind on an object, and why perseverance through repeated practice gradually transforms the mind. He emphasizes mind control through mindfulness and vigilance, using the image of a wild elephant caught in a trap and guided by a mahout’s hook.
File metadata (for organising)
File: Line in 0094 – KR.mp3
UUID: 4ec253c1-3eb6-40e9-b897-a4445105d065
Teacher: Kyabje Rinpoche
Collection: Awakening Heart
Recorded at: Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide
Words: ~2,845
You? So when we listen and explain the teachings, it is important to generate a good mind, a motivation of bodhicitta, and with such a motivation then there will be inconceivable benefit in what we engage in, and specifically we will accumulate a vast collection of merit. So then if we reflect on our relation with others, we will see that whereas we are only one, the number of other sentient beings is infinite, it is as vast as space. And then to reflect and to be dedicated only to our own well-being is an extremely small and narrow motivation. Instead we should focus on the well-being of others, and practice the interchange of self and others.
And if we do this, we will generate then the mind to free all beings from suffering and the causes of suffering which they endure at present, and to place them in a state of unadulterated happiness, which is that state of full enlightenment. If we engage into thinking and meditating with this as a motivation, there will be great benefit. Therefore, let us meditate on this for a couple of minutes. Refuge and bodhicitta for teaching on page one. If you’re not familiar with the Tibetan phonetic, then you can follow on page two on the English.
On a page five. Mandala offering on a verse six and we recite the first and the last one. So as our teacher Buddha Śākyamūni said, he whose speech is restrained, whose mind is stable, and who does not engage in non-virtue of the body, will attain the path of the Rishis. The meaning of this quote is as follows: it refers to the 10 non-virtuous deeds of body, speech and mind. The first stanza, the first verse, he whose speech is restrained refers to the three known virtues of the body, which is, excuse me, the four non-virtues of speech which are to be restrained, in the words lying and so forth.
The second stanza refers to the three non-virtues of mind, which are to be abstained one from, and the third stanza refers to the three non-virtues of body, which are to be abstained from. Now unlike ourselves, the Buddha’s speech is always straightforward and honest. We ourselves tend to dissemble and lie a lot when we speak. The Buddha’s speech is always clear and unambiguous, and it is through this practice that we will become like one of the Rishi, we will attain the state of a Rishi. Rishi here refers to the state of Buddhahood.
And then the four non virtuous deeds of speech and the three non virtuous deeds of body are to be abstained from, and abstaining from these seven non virtuous deeds, the three of body and the four of speech, is actually a practice of morality. Now with respect to the three non virtuous deeds of mind, which are to be abstained from, which are referred to by the second verse of this stanza, control your mind well. Controlling one’s mind well and abstaining from these three non virtuous mental deeds is actually not a practice of morality, but an engagement in virtue. So a distinction is made at this level. The mind must be well controlled through the twin forces of mindfulness and vigilance, which is the only way to prevent our mind, our mind from following all of the sensory stimuli.
If our mind follows all the sensory stimuli and everything we see, then we will accumulate a huge amount of non virtue very rapidly. And we will be a little bit akin to a fish plunging in the depths of the ocean. We will go straight down to the lower realms. So generally speaking, we try our best to protect our body from disease through being skillful and using medicine, but the important thing is really to protect our mind because it is through protecting our mind that we protect ourselves from being born in the lower realms. Now, as Vasubandhu said, from the variegated karma and worlds, this quote from Vasubandhu refers respectively in the first word from the variegated karma to karma itself, and the second part of the verse, words actually refers to sentient beings.
Now sentient beings, broadly speaking, can be seen in terms of their abode, and the beings who dwell themselves in this abode. Both are the products of karma. The abode of beings is a product of karma, likewise beings themselves are the product of karma. So we can say that karma is extraordinarily skillful in the way it leads to completion. For instance, we have just as far as human beings are concerned, human beings of various colors and races, white, yellow, red and what not.
And we have the same thing in the animal realms. We have white animals, red animals, black animals, multi colored animals, insects which wiggle along, others which squirm. These are all the products of karma. And not merely in the outside world but within our body for instance, all of the components of the body, such as the channels, the winds, the drops, the elements and so forth, the fluids constituting the body, all of these are the product of karma. And the second part of this verse of Vasubandhu reads as follows: This merely arises from motivation.
So it is extremely important to understand that the karma, of which the first verse of the stanza spoke about, arises from the mind. And the mind in turn can be divided into three broad categories. Mind which is turned in the virtuous direction, mind which is turned in the non virtuous direction, and mind which is neither virtuous nor non virtuous. Now the mind is oriented in a virtuous direction, it becomes a virtuous mind, and it in turn leads to happiness. If it is oriented in a non virtuous direction, it becomes a non virtuous mind and gives rise to suffering.
And if it is neither virtuous nor non virtuous, then it is a neutral mind and gives rise neither to happiness nor to suffering. It is critical to understand that even without doing anything with our body and with our speech, merely through thinking, we accumulate karma. If we allow our mind to fly hither and thither, and for instance, you know, we through great irritation with somebody fantasize about beating him up, or we fantasize about stealing something which belongs to somebody, then without moving our body or for that matter saying or doing anything whatsoever, just through these thoughts alone, we will have accumulated a large amount of non virtuous karma, mental non virtuous karma. But generally speaking, mental karma can be divided into the karma of intentionality and thought. The karma of intentionality is that intention which leads us to think about something, and thought is self explanatory.
And all of the deeds Rinpoche was referring to, such as anger which has arisen with respect to someone we consider evil, or stealing, sexual non virtue and so forth, all lead without exception to the accumulation of non virtuous karma. So it is very difficult to put an end to this. And for this reason, likewise, virtuous karma can be accumulated without any action of body or speech, just through thinking about doing something virtuous. For instance, if with the motivation of faith, we think that we would very much like to offer prostrations, even if we don’t offer the prostrations, we will have accumulated a large amount of virtuous karma and virtue. And this is the meaning of meditation.
Meditation is merely the habituation of the mind to virtue. So for instance, if we were to take the case of bodhicitta, through reflecting on freeing all sentient beings from the infinite sufferings they undergo, and placing them in a state of unalloyed happiness, we would accumulate a vast amount of merit merely through this thought. Well, this is why it is extremely important for us to meditate. And meditation is a mental activity, it’s not a bodily activity, it does not depend on some strange posture and exotic situation. It is the act of focusing the mind on a virtuous object, such as for instance emptiness.
If we were to meditate on emptiness, which is a virtuous object, to reflect on the fact that all phenomena are devoid of any inherent existence from their own side, then in so doing we would accumulate a vast amount of merit. So in a nutshell, meditation can be defined as that practice, mental practice, where we engage in virtue and where we abandon non virtue. So if meditation is purely a mental activity, then what is the raison d’etre, what is the meaning of the posture we adopt with crossed legs and, you know, the right hand resting on top of the left hand. Why do we do this if it’s a merely mental activity? The reason for the posture is that inside our body we have countless channels and the channels are permeated by winds, by psychic winds or psychic energies on which rides the mind.
Now through adopting this posture with a straight spine, the channels themselves are straightened. As they are straightened, the winds then move freely inside them. And if the winds move freely, then the mind and the winds which are inseparable, they are of one nature, move freely as well. And therefore the mind will be very clear. If the mind is very clear, then the meditation in turn will go well.
And then once the object has become clear to our mind, we have to analyze carefully. Without a careful preliminary analysis in the context of meditation there is no good meditation, and the goal of this analysis is to determine first whether the object itself is virtuous or non virtuous, and then in dependence on this, whether a virtuous or non virtuous mind will be generated. So this is absolutely critical, and then only after this process of analysis do we actually place the mind on the object. And this placing of the mind on a virtuous object will give rise to a virtuous mind. Naturally, if we were to place the mind on a non virtuous object, the mind itself would also become non virtuous.
So what therefore is the meaning of meditation? The Tibetan term meditation comes from the verb just means to be accustomed to. So meditation is merely a continuous process of habituation of the mind to a virtuous object. And it is a continuous process, because if we just expose the mind to a virtuous object once, then the mind will not be able to change sufficiently. So for the power of the mind, its virtuous component to increase continually, it must be exposed again and again to this virtuous object.
This is basically therefore the meaning of meditation. Now, it can be said to be akin to engaging in a job. If you engage in a job and you want to get somewhere with your life, then you have to stick to the same job. If you keep changing jobs all the time, you’re never going to get anywhere with your life, you’re going to be a failure. You have to find one job and stick to it.
It’s the same thing when we engage in meditation. We first analyze the object of meditation carefully, and then we place the mind on it, and transform the mind in the light of the object. So for instance, if we wanted to meditate on compassion, then we would first reflect on the great suffering of all beings, and then generate a strong sense, it is terrible that beings should be suffering like this, and place our mind on this again and again, and in dependence on this compassion will arise, will increase, and eventually great compassion will be generated. Likewise, through faith in the teacher, then through meditating again and again on faith in the teacher, one’s faith will increase. And as Rinpoche has explained several times before, in dependence on the increase in faith, all the qualities will increase in turn.
To give another simile, we might say it’s a bit akin to a farmer sowing grain. So if the farmer sows grain in the field and just forgets it in the field and doesn’t water it, the grain will dry out, it will not give a crop. So it must be watered again and again, this is a process of meditation which leads to the enhancement of the mind. And then in dependence on this watering and on the power of faith, then all the qualities such as bodhicitta or the correct view of emptiness may be generated. So in worldly matters for instance, we know quite well that the acquisition of any skill takes time.
When we learn the alphabet for instance, at first it’s very difficult and we find it very difficult to write the letters and then over time we acquire through habit the capacity to do so. Likewise, when we first sit down at a computer keyboard, if we’ve never typed before, we search out the letters one by one. Then we just speed along after a couple months or years. So it is a matter of repeated habituation, And every activity at the beginning is difficult, there is no debate about this. But over time there is no activity which does not become easier.
So there is when we engage initially in meditation, strong temptation to abandon our practice, because it is indeed difficult at the beginning, we are not accustomed to this, but it will become easier over time, and this is why we should persevere. And persevering here means again and again placing our mind on the same virtuous object. If we keep changing subjects of meditation, we will get nowhere in our practice. It’s the same thing in worldly life. So Rinpoche remembers seeing with admiration the Aboriginal tribesmen making a fire through twirling a stick, and they would place a pointed stick on one point, and then twirl it very quickly and never change the point where they are twirling it, and through this they will be able to light a fire.
So this is how we should practice. Now naturally the mind is intangible, we cannot seize it, we cannot see it, but we can control it through the twin forces of mindfulness and vigilance. Through mindfulness we hold the mind, and then through vigilance we check constantly the mind, and when one’s mindfulness abates, then vigilance incites us to once again increase mindfulness and control the mind. So we could say that our mind is somewhat akin to a wild elephant whose foot is caught in a trap, skillfully hidden in a hole. And then once the foot has been caught in the trap and the elephant is chained, that is possible to direct the elephant as the Mahouts do in India with a long hook with which they tap the elephant on the back of the head.
And this is exactly how we should train our minds. Our minds are the elephant, and the object to which we are focusing the mind, which is the elephant, is that hole and chain in which the elephant’s foot has fallen, and the mindfulness then is the hook of the mahout, which again and again brings the elephant back on target. So this in a nutshell is what is meant by meditation. If our mind is scattered, and when we claim to be meditating travels all over the place, then it is a very clear sign that we have no mindfulness. So, Rinpoche knows that today in Australia you are commemorating the tragic death of so many in the fires in the Victoria area, and this is a day of sadness and suffering for Australia and the Australians, and all the religious traditions unite in praying for the poor victims of this tragedy, And Rinpoche would like that we spend a couple minutes dedicating the merit of listening to these teachings, and understanding and explaining these teachings to the welfare of the victims of this tragedy.
And the prayers we are now reciting will also be for the benefit of the deceased. Verse nine. Okay. This Wednesday, there is teaching. In the program it says no teaching but there will be a teaching at night.
And it’s a Tibetan New Year and in the morning there is a Guru Puja 05:30 starts and most welcome. And if you can to light one candle for the benefit, this is what is the plan in the Tibetan Exile Government and you know, to making everybody to offering light offering to commemorate that many Tibetans in last year, much since, you know, there were many people died and still thousands of people in a prison and still many people, they’re cracking down and taking away at night. And so please to maybe light one for all the Tibetan suffering in inside Tibet. Thank you.