Audio recorded at Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 98-minute commentary on Chapter 6 of Śāntideva’s Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra, Kyabje Rinpoche teaches patience as an antidote to anger, anchored by a stark claim: one moment of anger destroys positive karma accumulated over a thousand eons. He establishes how anger devastates one’s own happiness and that of others, then teaches the anatomy of anger—an obstructed desire, someone blocking it, and mental unhappiness. Rinpoche offers concrete antidotes: recognizing anger as it arises through mindful awareness (a “spy” to watch the mind), and applying understanding of cause and effect to transform reactivity. Real-world examples ground the teaching throughout. The closing Q&A addresses anger in contexts of oppression, arguing that peaceful clarity, not rage, achieves lasting aims. For practitioners already engaged with the bodhisattva path.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 1988-10-24 – Patience – KR.mp3
UUID: 3bc50b20-c27b-4e07-a2e0-9a86c3baf4d4
Teacher: Kyabje Rinpoche
Collection: Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra
Date: 1988-10-24
Recorded at: Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide
Words: ~5,062
So, Śāntideva has said that the Buddha’s looking upon all beings with love asked by what means might we best be able to help them? And the answer that they came up with is the awakening heart of bodhicitta. So the text that we’re going to be looking at is the Engaging in the bodhisattva’s Deeds. Here it’s translated as a Bodhicaryāvatāra and written by Śāntideva. And it’s a text which is included in the great vehicle, the Mahāyāna.
And within the Mahāyāna, the great vehicle, there are two overall categories or divisions. That is the profound and the vast, and this text falls into the category of the vast. So within the category of the vast, the areas or the concerns or the subjects which are taken up are compassion, the awakening heart, the 10 grounds of the bodhisattva, and the six perfections such as the perfection or the transcendence of generosity, ethics, patience, effort, concentration, and wisdom. And then also included in this is the four categories of cultivating the minds of the students. So amongst these six transcendences or perfections which are are studied in the category of the vast, that is generosity, patience, ethics, etc, we’re going to look at the perfection of patience.
So the text, the Engaging in the bodhisattva Deeds, has 10 chapters. The first chapter takes up the benefits of developing an awakening heart. That is the bodhicitta. The second chapter is concerned with exposing one’s past negative actions and is the practice of confession. The third takes up the ceremony whereby one actually accepts the vows of the bodhisattva, the vows of developing an awakening heart.
And the fourth chapter is the development of the awareness of the various conditions for fostering the awakening heart, that is to say developing conscientiousness. And then the fifth chapter is the guarding alertness, ensuring the conditions are such for developing the awakening heart. And then the sixth chapter, which we’re going to look at, is the chapter on patience. So, you know, this is a practice contained within the great vehicle, which is of tremendous significance in our lives. We should, in order to develop the, to take the most benefit from it, purely dependent upon the motivation.
Essentially, initially we should adjust our motivation such that we’re going to listen to this teaching in order to put it into practice and we’re doing that in order to benefit all sentient beings as vast as space. So begin with by taking a look at the various faults of anger. You know, the If we were to practice, engage in various skillful actions, positive actions such as, for example, generosity, practicing ethics, effort, meditation for long periods of time, for hundreds of eons it is said, Then even having gathered together all this skillful energy, one moment of anger is said to be able to destroy even this that we’ve gathered over a 100 eons of time. So how does anger destroy the roots of our skillful energy, our positive actions that we’ve created? The various fruits, the various results of positive actions are happiness and various sources of happiness that we have around us.
So these are the results of committing positive actions, happiness. But it’s the nature of anger that it destroys this happiness which is the fruit of positive actions. Therefore, it destroys our positive actions because it destroys the fruit of our positive actions. We cannot have the happiness that positive actions would have given us due to anger destroying our happiness. So to give you so the text mentions that the positive energy that we’ve created over a thousand eons of time just to develop some idea of what we mean by an eon.
There are 80 intermediate eons in one great eon. And within a great eon, a great eon is divided into four parts. The part of creation, creation, abidance, destruction, and emptiness. So I might have got this turned around. So one great eon is divided into 80 intermediate eons.
The intermediate, this period of 80 great eons has four divisions, each having 20 intermediate eons in length. There are the 20 divisions of 20 intermediate eons of creation, abidance, destruction, and emptiness. For example, now the present world is abiding in the intermediate eon in the intermediate eon of abidance. So we are abiding in a period, we are existing in a period of an intermediate eon of abidance. One, now to give an idea of what one intermediate eon is like, it is said that at the beginning of an intermediate eon, when first the, in our case, when the humans first were created, they had a lifespan which was immeasurable.
During this period as the intermediate goes on, this lifespan will degenerate down to ten years. So the significance of this discussion is to give you some feeling about when we say that one moment of anger can destroy the positive energy or the positive actions that we’ve created over a 100 eons. A 100 eons is meant here, the 100 great eons of which we’ve divided down into these various time periods. All these positive actions are destroyed by one moment of anger. So in general, we can talk about three types of objects that we become angry at.
Such types of objects as the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, that is those beings who are spiritually superior to ourselves. Then there are those individuals who are equal to ourselves. And the third object of our anger are those who are in some way inferior to us. So our discussion up to this point about the disadvantages of anger had been in accordance with the anger directed at individuals of high spiritual realization such as Buddhas and Bodhisattvas? So this destruction of positive actions over a thousand eons occurs when our anger is directed toward those of high spiritual realization.
Those who have equal spiritual realization to us, who are in some way similar to us, we destroy a 100 eons of positive actions with one moment of anger. So this is we can’t these figures that we’ve been giving for these various destructive quality of anger, we can’t see for ourselves directly. It’s necessary to rely on the words of the Buddha and to develop conviction that these are valid words that he’s speaking as he actually saw them. So the text goes on to say that there is no destructive action like that of anger. Just as there is no destructive action such as anger, there is no more constructive action than patience.
Is said that patience is of a great spiritual significance. It is extremely beneficial and is a great constructive action. So we have to look at the many disadvantages of anger and the many benefits to be derived from patience. The fact we were And looking at these, weighing these two factors and understanding that we do not like to have any disadvantages we and prefer the advantages, the profits that we gained, then we would be motivated to engage in the various means, the methods whereby we can strive in developing patience and begin to pacify our anger. So how do we go about actually reflecting upon patience?
How do we actually cultivate patience? First we have to begin to see for ourselves the great benefits to be derived from patients and having seen the disadvantages of our anger. The fact that patience is of a great benefit to us, that not only is it a great benefit to us in this life, it’s going to be a benefit to us in all our future lives. And that it’s the tremendously constructive quality which is to be gained from developing patience. So if we discuss some of the benefits of developing patients, the master Candrakīrti, he talks about some of the benefits to be derived.
And having accustomed ourselves to patience, the results even in this life are that when people see us, they like us. They’re happy when they see us. And you know there’s a big difference between some people have very beautiful bodies and some people have not so beautiful, unattractive bodies. For example, this life, having an attractive body, a beautiful body in this life is a result of having accustomed yourself to patience in previous lives. Then there are other people, we’ve just seen them.
They always have a black face, a black appearance, there’s always negative atmosphere about them. We don’t like to be around them. We feel some uneasiness just to be with them. This is due to their having habituated themselves to anger in past lives. So by, through the power of our patience we can develop, become skillful and our wisdom will develop.
One of the advantages is that we are able to understand the operation of cyclic existence, how it’s actually working in our lives. Therefore, we’ll be able to develop the means by which to liberate ourselves from it. In future lives, through the practice of patience, we can be reborn as some types of celestial beings or human beings and we’re sure to have a beautiful body. Not only that, but we’ll have a kind heart. We’ll be able to help others and they’re going to like us quite naturally.
We can look at the disadvantages of anger. For example, all the disputes that arise between husbands and wife are based upon allowing ourselves to be accustomed, habituated to anger. And this not only stops there, but it pervades the entire area where we’re living. That there’s a lot of disharmony in the area. And this can spread to actually the entire country and finally the basis of all the conflicts within the world are dependent upon the angers in mind of the beings who live here.
And in the future, through the force of accustoming our minds through anger, we can be reborn as a snake, as a scorpion. And these are the types of beings where people just see them become afraid. They have a very ugly appearance and people just automatically are fearful and they throw stones at them without even thinking about it. So also we can be reborn as helping or hungry ghost due to force of anger. So we have to make effort and seeing for ourselves within our own experience the disadvantages of the faults of anger when we generate them and the benefits of remaining patient in various situations.
So we can’t immediately change our mind all at once. We have to work at this very gradually. But if every day we make some effort looking at the advantages of patience and the disadvantages of anger, then understanding this well, then maybe we can keep our minds in the practice of patience for even half a day and not generate any anger during that period of time. And little by little our mind will develop the ability to lessen our anger and to develop patience. So Śāntideva has said that there is nothing which does not become easier upon accustoming ourselves or habituation.
That is to say, if we are willing to put the energy into practice, then there’s no reason that we cannot develop in any direction that we wish. So when we talk about, for example, that we can lose the constructive actions that created over a thousand eons, We can’t know that for ourselves. It’s a matter of having conviction in the words of the Buddha. But the various disadvantages of anger and advantages of patience which are going to be discussed further, then we have direct experience of these. We can understand these for ourselves.
So we can understand from our own direct experience that the moment that anger is developed within our mind, at that very moment our mind is in pain, it’s suffering. We could be in a very comfortable, relaxed frame of mind. And then due to the simple fact of various adventitious conditions, temporary conditions aggregating, causing within our mind anger to arise, then automatically our relaxed, peaceful frame of mind is destroyed. So automatically, no matter how much happiness or joy we may be experiencing, when anger develops, it’s completely all our happiness and joy is completely destroyed. So, finding any joy or happiness, having destroyed by anger, then even when we try to sleep, cannot sleep and even in our mind it feels uneasiness.
It’s quite unsettled. And not only that, when anger arises, then it’s as if our mind is out of control. So in such a condition when anger arises, it’s as if our mind is out of control. We don’t quite know what we’re doing. Even to those people who help us, who are really our friends, who perhaps have given us material things, who have come to our aid when we were in problems, when in we need.
When we’re angry, we’re even going to hurt them, we’re going to fight with them, and to the extent where we could actually might even kill someone under the powerless control of anger. So not only do we hurt ourselves, but we hurt others. When we develop anger within ourselves, then all those people around us, our husband or our wife, the relatives, our friends are also affected. Their minds become unpeaceful and unhappy. And seeing what we’re doing to others, seeing, Oh, I hurt my wife or I hurt my husband, on top of all the unhappiness that we created for ourselves and others, thinking in this way, we become even more depressed.
So you should reflect upon what we’re talking about and see whether it’s okay to become angry or not. So, we not only hurt ourselves, people the around us, but even the country that we lived in. And finally, all the disharmony in the world is dependent upon individuals, upon the hatred and anger within the minds of individual people. When we think of anger, we think of very repulsive things. We associate it with things like snakes and spiders and scorpions, which nobody likes and are quite fearful.
And this is the quality of anger within our minds. So, just speaking briefly about the faults of anger, there is nobody who can be happy when they’re angry. Therefore, Anger destroys happiness for oneself and all those around oneself. It destroys one’s happiness and the happiness of those around oneself. It not only does that in this life, but it does so in future lives.
We have to identify, be able to recognize the moment anger is beginning to arise in our mind. You know, If the anger is of small strength, then we can begin to avert it. We can cause it to calm down. But it’s extremely difficult if we allow our anger to become very strong. Then it’s extremely difficult to cease it.
So just as in wars, there are individuals who spy on the enemy. They’re lookouts. Someone’s always appointed to go out and to keep a watch whether the enemy is coming or not. So likewise, we have to develop within our own minds a spy, someone to keep a lookout, to watch out whether anger is arising or not. That is, we have to develop the factor of awareness.
If we can develop awareness, then the moment anger begins to arise in our mind, then we can think, for example, know, if I allow this anger to arise, it’s going to destroy all my happiness. In fact, it’s going to bring me suffering. And And we can immediately pacify the anger thinking in this way if we have developed this factor of awareness. So initially we’re talking about the way in which anger arises in our mind. So we have to understand what are the conditions, what are the circumstances which for us bring about anger.
Discussing what are the circumstances which bring about our anger. One possible circumstance would be that someone who prevents us from gaining an object of our desire, someone who prevents us. A simple example, if someone, we desire to be happy and you know, if someone were to throw a stone at us or to hit us over the head, then this would they would be preventing us from getting what we want, that is happiness. So, likewise, all the various things that we set out to do, the various things that we want to get, if someone stands in our way, then they’re going to become objects of our anger, whether it’s material things, for example, money or food or clothing, that if we want any of these objects and someone prevents us, then they’re going to become an object of our anger. Anger, the unhappiness associated with anger arises in dependence upon two causes or causes and conditions.
One of them is in dependence upon having from our side having a desire, an obstructed desire, having an obstructed desire and the other is seeing the other person as preventing us from gaining that which we desire. So seeing another person preventing us from getting our desire, that which we want, and the other is having our desire obstructed, having an obstructed desire. So these two, that is not getting that which we desire, having an obstructed desire, not getting that which we desire. The person who prevents us from getting a desire are the circumstances or the conditions which brings about unhappiness in our mind which is a cause. in dependence upon these three, that is these two conditions, an obstructed desire, the person who prevents gaining what we want, our desire, and these acting as a condition causing unhappiness in our mind.
in dependence upon these three, anger arises. Yes. So in dependence upon the degree of unhappiness that we experience, we are going to develop proportionate amount of anger. If we simply have a little bit of unhappiness, then our anger is not going to be very strong. But if our unhappiness is extremely great, we’re going to become very angry.
So, the main cause of anger is our mental unhappiness. This is said to be like the fuel or the food of anger. It’s like, you know, how in dependence upon how much mental unhappiness we experience, to that same degree, we’re going to become that much more angry. It’s like food in the sense that however much we eat, to that much more we’re going to get fat. Likewise, however much anger we have, that much more however much more mental unhappiness we have, that much more we’re going to develop anger.
Upon developing anger, we’ve destroyed our happiness. Our mind has become uncontrolled. And going to develop the habituate our mind to such states. We’re going to So therefore, not only are we losing happiness in this life, but in the future lives, we’re going to have an unattractive body. We’re going to experience further unhappiness.
So you know in the West People don’t like to be fat. And so, is the method? How can we get rid of this fat that nobody likes to have? Of course, we go on a diet. We begin to eat less food And this solves our problem.
Likewise, no one likes the unhappiness arising from anger. So how are we going to reduce the unhappiness of the disadvantages, the faults of the anger? By lessening anger, that is we have to begin to reduce the amount of food, that is mental unhappiness. If we can cease pacify our mental unhappiness, we aren’t going to become angry. So we should We have to begin to look upon anger as our enemy and see the great harm it brings us and understand that the fuel or the nourishment of anger is mental unhappiness.
And therefore, thinking that day that I’m not going to give anger any more fuel since it has all these faults. It brings me all this unhappiness. It has all these disadvantages, and therefore I’m going to begin to cease the fuel. I’m going to diminish the fuel that is the mental unhappiness of anger. So, we have to develop the intention through understanding within our experience the disadvantages of anger and the advantages of patience.
You know, if we understand that all the various disadvantages of anger, we actually initially destroy our happiness. We cannot be happy. We cannot remain at peace. We feel unsettled. It not only hurts us, but it hurts those around us.
It not only hurts us and those around in this present life, but also in future life by accustoming ourselves to such states. Then we’re going to gain the intention that I’m not going to allow, I’m not going to give it any fuel. I’m not going allow the cause of anger to arise. That is mental unhappiness. That is the misery of the mind, states, various suffering states of the mind.
Determining that the immediate, upon meeting any conditions, upon coming in contact with situations which cause me mental unhappiness, I’m going to be aware and make effort to prevent mental unhappiness arising thereby not allowing it to act as causes for anger. So we have to see that mental unhappiness is of no benefit to us. And therefore, to understand that anything that various states arising from it are of no benefit. For example, if someone were to throw a stone at us and hit us on the head and cause a wound. If we would allow ourselves in this situation to become mentally unhappy over this event, then we’re going to develop anger.
Now that anger not only is going to destroy any type of mental happiness which we might have been able to hold onto, but having done that, we’re going to seek to harm this other person due to which we’re going to engage in destructive actions. We’re going to hurt ourselves in the present. We’re going to hurt ourselves in the future. And in fact, that anger is really of no benefit. That anger in itself only hurts yourself.
Anger in itself cannot hurt anybody else. It cannot hurt this other person. It doesn’t, you know, it’s meaningless because it doesn’t help to heal the wound, for example. And another example would be if someone were to We expected someone to give us a present, say $100 and having this expectation, this person goes to give us $100 but they change their mind. They say, Oh, I don’t like you anymore.
I’m not going to give it to you anymore. Now, our mind becomes very unhappy, but our mind becoming unhappy, that in itself and also the anger which is generated due to our mental unhappiness, in no way can act as a means or a method to help us to get that $100 that we wanted before. This in itself, the mental unhappiness and the anger which arises, is not a method to help us to get that $100 that we wanted. So what is the use of returning harm upon receiving harm? Harming others in no way lessens the harm which was directed toward you.
And in fact, by developing the thought to harm, by developing anger, by developing mental unhappiness, we’re only compounding our own suffering and in no way helps us or benefits, in no way lessens the pain that we already received. So this is what the text is saying, but we should reflect upon it ourselves, check up within our own experience. Does returning harm for harm, does that help the situation any? Does that lessen our own suffering? So, this sense, we should reflect and check up within our own experience what is being said.
And this way, becomes having generated out of our own experience, it becomes a natural part of our practice. If someone were to, if one person were to kill a close relative of ours, naturally we might not like that. But we can ask, you would experience a great deal of suffering and especially mental unhappiness, mental suffering. Now if in fact that mental suffering that arose from this situation of killing your relative, if that could bring that relative back to life, then it would be a very viable thing to do. But it actually can’t do that.
It actually, the relative is dead and we cannot, no matter how much unhappiness we may generate, it’s not going to help that person, that dead person in the least. So it’s of no benefit, but in fact, we’re disturbing the peace of our mind. We’re losing our happiness, but it’s going to act as a cause for anger which we’re going to bring about further harm to ourselves and others. So in such a situation as this where perhaps a relative has been killed, you know, how could you what could serve as an antidote to the mental unhappiness which might arise? You know, if we have some developing conviction in the, for example, the teaching of the Buddha where he set forth the law of the cause and effect and that whatever actions that you commit, there’s going to be a similar result, a reaction coming back toward you.
And therefore, in this situation where perhaps a relative is killed, we can understand that this is the working out of the law of the cause and effect. And therefore, this understanding this that this is simply the process of the reaction from something that we’ve done in the past and therefore this will act as an antidote whereby we won’t necessarily experience a mental unhappiness. So this is a real method we can use to lessen the suffering that we experience in such situations. That if we can develop the conviction in the Buddhist teaching on the law of cause and effect that through all the various actions that we engage in, there’s going to be a reaction which is going to come back toward us. Thinking in this way is a real method to lessen our mental suffering in such situations.
So the circumstance might arise, situation might arise where someone slaps you in the face, calls you bad names, abuses you with harsh words. If at that time we can understand that this is simply the operation of the infallible law of cause and effect, that this is simply a reaction of something that we’ve done in the past, that in fact, in the past that we’ve hurt others, that we’ve abused others, that we’ve called them bad names, used harsh words, slapped others, hurt others, and this is simply a reaction to our past negative actions. This will act as a means whereby anger will not arise. So if we can do this in all the various situations that arise and where we experience some kinds of difficulties no matter what may happen to us, whatever problems may arise and troubles, whatever sufferings that we may experience, If we can simply understand that this is a reaction, a result from past negative actions, that this is simply the operation of the law of cause and effect, understanding the advantages of patience, the disadvantages of anger, then this, that is the understanding and application of the law of cause and effect.
The understanding of the law of cause and effect as an antidote can act as the most powerful means by which to cease the rising anger. So you have some questions? So maybe we’ll take questions for five minutes. Yeah. On the subject of anger, just thinking about the oppressed people in the world, the people who are in situations who were experiencing in the everyday anger, brutality, violence, killing, people who are in a social framework which is full of injustice that in fact is is is designed to oppress them and keep them down.
Surely, their anger in this situation can have a positive outcome in So, the results of anger can only be destructive and they can only bring unhappiness. Now if we take the example of the Chinese occupation of Tibet, the oppression of the Tibetan people, for us to become angry at them would only make the situation worse. That in fact we should understand that the oppression of the Tibetan people by the Chinese is simply is a reaction resulting from the Tibetan people having in the past oppressed the Chinese themselves. And that becoming angry at them would not lead us to gain the aims that we want. And in fact, by remaining peaceful and clear sighted as to our goal, this in fact will be the best means by which we can regain our independence and freedom.
So, And also whether one is a very angry person some person in this life or not an angry person in this life is simply due to have been habituated to anger in past lives. The effect of being male or female makes no difference. There are many women who are quite angry and many men who have little anger. So it’s a continual recycling. First there’s the 20 intermediate eons in which the universe is being created.
And then there’s the 20 intermediate eons of abidance which we’re experiencing at this present time. And then there were 20 intermediate eons in which the gradual destruction of the universe until its point is reached where there would be 20 intermediate eons what is called emptiness, there exists nothing, and then this process will begin and again where there will be another twenty eons of recreation of the universe, and it just keeps cycling. So, it’s during this period of intermediate eon of abidance that the Buddha appears and gives teachings and it’s during this period. Then there come about the eventual degeneration of the teachings and finally they will be destroyed and this begins the intermediate eon, the 20 intermediate eons of destruction. Disintegration.
Yeah. So, what we’re talking about is intermediate, these four intervals of the intermediate eons and this great eons applies to this universe. And then there are other universes which are undergoing a different, are involved in different cycles in which is mentioned in offering to the spiritual master. It’s mentioned about these other universes where this process is also taking place. Any more questions?