Audio recorded at Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. Geshe Jampa Gyaltsen teaches the six perfections as the path to developing a workable mind capable of achieving enlightenment. In this 47-minute Chenrezig retreat session, he begins by diagnosing the problem: our mind has become dry, tight, and unruly under the dominance of six negative forces opposite to the perfections. He then walks through how generosity and morality create the foundation—loosening miserliness and establishing ethical discipline—before addressing patience as the key to transforming obstacles into spiritual opportunity. He illustrates this with the example of a bodhisattva who welcomes a difficult person the way a gold prospector celebrates striking ore: as a chance to purify anger and draw closer to Buddhahood. He continues through perseverance, calm abiding concentration, and culminates in wisdom—the essential practice that prevents our good deeds from becoming another problem, and instead sees all phenomena as empty of inherent existence. Throughout, the emphasis is on how these six practices soften the mind progressively, eventually revealing its luminous nature united with insight into emptiness.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 1994-07-15 – 7B – Retreat – KR.mp3
UUID: c7daba40-1d46-480f-ad73-3c9657e1cfb2
Teacher: Geshe Jampa Gyaltsen
Collection: Chenrezig
Date: 1994-07-15
Recorded at: Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide
Words: ~3,506
Patience — its opposite — is a wandering mind, or thoughtlessness, lack of thoughtfulness. That’s all. And the opposite of the six perfections, sorry. Opposite of the wisdom is ignorance. So now, see, our mind, it it’s been met so unruly, so so so wild, so hard, so dry by the completely dominating by those six negative force of those six six negative negative repercussion of of that completely kind of completely took over our mind, and we cannot work with it.
And it’s so it’s so unsuitable because of that being it’s being so unruly, so unsuitable, so infertile that that, you know, that that the generation of of any realization of the of the great generation of realization of great tantric experience and the generation of the path and so forth, face a tremendous hostile conditions or hostile situation for them to to develop within from our own mind. After recognizing after recognizing how hard, how unworkable our mind is due to the due to the influence of those full force of the six negative things. So now if you were to say how we’re gonna go about the task of loosening loosening the loosening the dried mind or dried mind or to create the to generate the fluidity within our mind, then first of all, we’re gonna practice the generosity which which opposes the miserliness, which goes against the miserliness. So in order to moisten the dryness of our mind is as we said earlier, by practicing the generosity. What it does is it chips away the tightness created in our mind by the miserliness.
Now, in order to in order to train ourself in the in the process of getting rid of or in order to hone our skill in loosening the miserliness, miserliness is to the extent extent how we go about is. Alright? That there are different types of generosity practice we can undertake, like a practice of the the Dharma and so forth. So now here in this particular teaching, it says so in we have already now made a commitment. We have already made a commitment that we will attain this the the Buddha mind.
Right? So now in order to attain the Buddha mind, we’ve got to get rid of those influence of those six six opposite of the six perfections. Right? So now for me to engage in the practice of generosity, which cuts through or which kind of alleviates the is that I will even if or you even you have to even even be be in a position where can you can freely part from your own body. You can give up your own body if if the need may arise that you’ve been prepared in a complete preparedness of having to give your body in order to help, that if it serves some purpose for to benefit other.
So therefore, there is no questions or no doubt whatsoever in terms of your level or requirement or level, your preparedness to give things, your house, your property, your wealth, money, those of course, you have to be in the a full preparedness to give those while. Yes. One of the prayers which which sings sings the quality of the Buddha, it’s like this. Buddha Buddha, while on his spiritual journey, he practiced he practiced the the practiced he practiced the of generosity to such an extent where he gave his property, house, his own sons, daughters, wife, his even his body. So therefore, we will pray that his teaching may last forever.
So when one engages in the practice of generosity, one one’s motivation, motivations or what it motivate must never be for even a single solitary moment that by by donating this or by generously giving this to whatever causes you may choose to will be, say, I will I will get something back in return in return, or there will be some sort of retribution to it or some sort of return for it. You must not have that feeling. And also, must not think that, oh, there will be a better karmic consequences for me to to to be engaged or to be generous about certain things. If you do have that sort of motivational factor which drives your act of being generous, then it’s a tainted one. And the the result the the subsequent result will the size of the subsequent result will be dramatically reduced reduced.
So your prime motivations when you when you are in a generous mood, it must always be that I’m doing this to counteract, to make my mind more fertile, to make my mind free from the clutch of miserliness whereby I will gain that knowledge in order to help, in order to bring everlasting happiness happiness happiness for all other sentient beings that that must only be the the motivations or the intentions of having to off when you are being generous and generous or practicing, put it in a technical terms, practicing generosity. Morality is incredibly important that as we have established its necessity, its need early on that in order to attain a precious human human incarnation, which is filled with the all the leisures and all the endowments in order to practice. Without that, we can’t even attain the precious human rebirth, without which all the possible the possibility of attaining Buddhahood, possibility of achieving all the great qualities that is a necessity, an instrumental tool in order to do the big benefit for all other sentient beings. Right? Now that saying that we’re gonna do bring the ultimate joy for other people, but if you don’t practice the morality, then it’s and then it is a matter of a laughing matter.
It’s a big joke. Without getting yourself organized, you can’t even think of helping other people. So saying that, you know, I want to do benefit for other sentient beings, do something good for other people, if you don’t do if you don’t get your own house organized, then it it can be a matter of a bit of a joke if you don’t get yours organized. A similar way, what Buddha says is that you have to practice morality, so it gives the at least foundation basis upon which you can carry all the the complete your pledge responsibility of bringing happiness and the happiness to other people. The the standard practice of the the victorious sons, victorious ones, the bodhisattvas is now it it is in relation to the need to practice the patience.
Alright? The patience. How the bodhisattvas go about engaging themselves in the conduct of being patient is in such a way. Whatever the heart, whatever the wealth, whatever the property, whatever the luxury, whatever the things they may have that is otherwise people cherish so much. Say, if they had been taken and looted a rob by some by other people, or if they get beaten up badly, beaten up badly, if they’ve been made to experience a lot of grievous bodily harm, and so forth, the normal standard standard psychological response to those people for a bodhisattva would be like that he’s incredibly happy, the fact that he’s got opportunity to practice, opportunity to practice patience, got the opportunity to to at least recognize recognize the negative actions or negative actions of of one’s mind and and feeling so happy in the manner that as if you you discover a mind, a gold mine, or diamond or whatever.
In that manner, the bodhisattvas feel so happy, and they have a patience, they feel so happy that what those people actually react him or her to to react negatively in in that. So he got the opportunity to get rid of that negative thing. So it is like like for him so happy as if he found a gold mine or diamond mine or something of that nature. Therefore, the bodhisattvas deal with that sort of situation and practice their patience in such a manner. Here, Rinpoche gives an example that we on a different different degrees or different levels, you know, we send expeditions looking for mines.
Right? Looking for mines where the gold mines or whatever. And if they find or they strike gold, then you can tell the ecstasy how they feel. They get beside themselves and so happy. Other way, what Rinpoche saw is that you people go with the metal detectors looking for some things.
If they do seem to find a piece of gold or a piece of materials, whatever that that that thing detects, and you can see the expression in their face, they get beside themselves. Why? Because they found something they really like. In a similar way, the bodhis bodhisattvas, you see, bodhisattvas know that in order to get enlightened, they must get rid of the get must get rid of the the opposite negative force of patience. Right?
Therefore, when they do encounter a situation where they have to, you know, when they have to react negatively, they have to react angrily. Then they feel so happy. They feel so happy in the manner you detect their gold, so to speak, or find a gold through your metal detector, that that’s fantastic that I get opportunity today to practice, test my patience, and and and and and but that might make my mind more subtle, sort of more supple, more workable in order to get myself a bit closer to the complete attainment of Buddhahood. So in that way, the bodhisattvas or the people who engages seriously in that sort of practice feel or try to see the situation from that point of view. So it seems like that if you seriously practice good patience, that it it might be ideal to have a very nagging or kind of partner of any I mean, if you are in a kind of, you know, if when, say, you are very peaceful, when you there’s no reason, no external causes that makes you upset or whatever, you you can you can practice patience, no problem at all.
You see, it’s not a not a big deal. You don’t you’re not being tested. So, if you are fortunately in a relationship where you have a very nagging sort of, you know, pain in a certain section of things or the situation, then you feel very happy. You know, you gotta be you gotta kinda you can see that as if you find a gold mine instead of, you know, crackpot. Here, Rinpoche quotes once again from the works of Acharya Śāntideva where he said that the object with whom we can practice generosity is is in in in is in abundance everywhere.
People of you. Everybody wants doesn’t matter what sort of their financial state status may be, they want from you. You know? If as long as how much if as long as you can have the things to give, why? There’s plenty of people around to take.
So comparison to that, play up the object with whom you can practice or test your patient is quite limited. Here, Rinpoche says that, you know, the great Atisha, the great teachers who came to Tibet, good teacher, he used to hang around with this ascetic ascetic person, you know, who was very cranky and has very bad man and a foul mouth, and you name it. Very contemporaneous, but he always hangs around with him. And the time well, that’s the time came, you know, some of our teachers students said to the the teacher, why don’t you get rid of the bloody cantankerous, very cranky, This this guy that you always hang around with it, while you have it, it seems to give you more headache, tough thing. Then where our teacher responded, no.
Don’t say that like that. He is my best teacher because he gives me the divine opportunity to practice my patience. So he is precious to me. And Rinpoche says that it’s good that if some drives you up the bend, around the bend. Here now, we talk about the the importance of practicing perseverance or work hard or work ethic, so to speak, work hard.
See, the the people or the practitioner who engage in the lower sort of level of spiritual training, here, it brings technical term, Hīnayāna beings. See, these people, these practitioner developed an urgent desire, a genuine sense of fear of having to go in the hell realm or having to reborn in a having to reborn in a lower realm, by utter scare or utter fear, they engage so diligently, really really diligently in the pursuit of gaining attainment from the or gaining liberation from the lower rebirth. The the the way they go about their diligence is in such a manner, say, if you go to if you go to if your hair got is set on fire accidentally, the speed with which you will go try to extinguish that fire or put that fire out would be so fast. Similar way, the Hīnayāna beings, the way they engage, any means and possible through which they can gain liberation from the lower rebirth, possibility of by having to reborn is this is how they quickly jump on that. The similar if that is the level of the diligence or level of perseverance, the Hīnayāna beings, the lower level people is the case, then the the the way the bodhisattvas, the the the more higher spiritual trainees, their sort of their practice of perseverance is so awesome, you know, so powerful that you cannot cease to describe the the the size of their practice of diligence.
So this is how the bodhisattvas or the sons of the victorious one will go about practicing their perseverance or anyway, you got it now. Okay. See, after having done few of those practices, now we’re in a we’re in a pretty good sort of position, hypothetically speaking, assuming that we have achieved those things practiced so far. We’re in a pretty good positions. So we have achieved the the kind of the comfort or the physical sort of suppleness or physical relaxed state, relaxedness, so to speak, through the practice of morality.
Now we come to the practice of samadhi or the concentrations, which is which is designed to bring some calmness or some some some relax, some peacefulness in your mind. So the the purpose here is to get control of your mind, so to speak, because our mind our mind, but it’s a sort of nature is sort of at this stage is to ceaselessly kind of wander everywhere. You know? It jumps everywhere, goes everywhere. So by developing a technique to concentrate single pointedly on one object, staying constantly there through different antidotes, through different means means is what you call to attain or to develop the state of calm, sort of abiding, calm abiding, that gives the the physical rest to your relentless or restless mind.
Okay. After after having controlled, or after having gained certain control over your unruly mind, which which goes everywhere, which scatters everywhere, you gain you manage to bring that mind and reasonably successfully onto one particular objects and make it stay there and make it stay there, when you that’s what you call calm abiding, which gives a great deal of pleasure pleasure in your mind, or gives a great deal of peace. Peace brings a peace and rest to your mind, and stay there unwaveringly for a long time, single pointedly. But when we talk about the the object upon which we place our calm abiding technique or calm abiding mental mentality, there are different things, different objects, or or different object visualization, so to speak. However, this time, we will just constantly use the emptiness.
Okay? Emptiness. By using by making emptiness at the object of your calm abiding and staying on it, then you bring another set of another set of mental development, which analyzes the whole thing. Analytic analyzing analytical analytical aspect of mind comes into action or comes into play, which checks the checks or works the the logic of the emptiness and so forth, then abiding on that particular analytical state of mind is what you call the practice of special insight. Should I add a little bit on before?
I forgot to tell that that the the calm abiding is achieved through getting rid of five faults and applying eight antidotes, which wouldn’t be said. Alright? I don’t know what they are, but that’s what I said. Okay. Now after having, you know, after having perfected, so to speak, in those five technique or five reasons or five practices or five trainings, sets of training.
Right? Now Buddha Buddha said here, it’s why one have to train oneself, why one have to hone one’s skill in training those five perfection. It’s primarily so that we can create a proper situation or proper suitable condition for the practice of wisdom to work easily. The reason that we attach the great precedence or great importance on the practice of wisdom is as such. While accepting, while there’s no denial of the the incredible instrumentality practice or the need of five practices.
However, the the the the five alone alone is not good enough to actually cut through cut through the cut through the problems and gain the complete enlightenment. So now to recap the event a little bit further up, okay, we said with the pure pure motivations of bodhicittas, right, we worked out, then we we come to realize that that we’ve gotta work through our our mind, how tight it is. Then realizing that, we work through. We soften the soften the our mind, the our unruly state of our mind by practicing generosity and so forth. Five.
Once you reach that point, now you have needed there’s a great need to develop the practice of wisdom. You see, the reason you develop the wisdom is that wisdom is that without the without the wisdoms or without the practice of wisdom, is we will face a difficulty how do say? We feel this difficulty in actually getting rid of all the problems. So what the what does the wisdom do here is now. Wisdom sees the the object of meditation, the object of Buddha, the practitioner oneself, the practice, the activities, the whatever activities of conduct — these are all devoid of true existence.
It the wisdom understand the lack of the true existence or inherent existence of all, which is the cause of the old problem so that the the the wisdom sees what we did prior does not become in itself a problem a problem which which becomes which which becomes the itself another set of a problem. So it sees through. It works through the through the the the, how to say, the obscurities of all all. So therefore, wisdom is very important. So it it it takes care.
It makes sure that whatever we did earlier don’t become itself another set of neurotic object, so to speak. So therefore, the wisdom is very important, and engaging in that way is what you call the practice of wisdom or perfection of wisdom. To summarize the the the regarding this subject, by practicing, you know, by practicing those six perfection or the perfections, right, what it does is what the purpose does is, as I said earlier, it softens up the your mind. As we go along, as we progress on the engaging in the practice, what it does is in the initial stage, it get rid of the rougher rougher mental affliction that we got, and it start attacking the subtler, delusional aspects of our mind, and whereby, as as a byproduct of getting rid of those delusory aspects, it gives rise to the quality of the the the the the quality of the bodhicitta, quality of all other quality of, you know, like compassion and so forth. And eventually eventually, it wipes all the it wipes all the dirt, so to speak, wipes all the dirt, and it it shines the clear nature of our own mind where it becomes that mind itself itself becomes the non-dual knowledge of understanding emptiness.
It becomes emptiness and the the mind which wishes to attain or the the the the bodhicitta itself becomes the wisdom. And that’s that’s that gives us an incredibly good weapon or good means or method in order to carry on the job for other. And whatever activity we do becomes so much powerful, much awesome because of that that that sort of that sort of a state of our mind. Whatever activity we do to others becomes far more effective and far more powerful, far more impacting because the purity, the energy comes from come comes from that. Yeah.
Comes from that. Sorry.