Audio recorded at Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this closing 32-minute session, Kyabje Rinpoche examines how to cultivate and test good motivation—specifically bodhicitta, the awakening mind of benefiting others. He unpacks why Buddhas and bodhisattvas agree bodhicitta is the supreme heart-quality, citing Lama Tsongkhapa’s teaching that it is the most indispensable tool in spiritual training. Through a striking analogy—how worldly people make money their central concern—Rinpoche shows how bodhicitta should become the heart-commitment underlying every action. When paired with ordinary activities, this motivation transforms mundane tasks into causes for enlightenment and ripens immense merit. He closes by reflecting on the rarity of retreats, the karma that brought the group together, and dedicating merit that both isolated meditators and kitchen workers achieve enlightenment. For practitioners already engaged in retreat.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 1994-07-16 – 9B – Retreat – KR.mp3
UUID: 2160beaf-174a-48d5-9dd8-81fd6974dd8b
Teacher: Kyabje Rinpoche
Collection: Chenrezig
Date: 1994-07-16
Recorded at: Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide
Words: ~2,415
So how we should go about checking our mind is through analytical view and being a mindful or mind with the help of the systems of mindfulness. With the systems of analytical review analytical reviewing intelligence and the mindfulness, we gotta keep we gotta make sure our mind, our heart, our motivation is that of a very good one or which is the good one or being nice or pure loving. So that with with that sort of state of good heart as a motivational factor, then the bodhisattvas are going about doing activities benefiting or beneficial for others is how what the bodhisattva does, or this how we should try to emulate if you can. So, here, if you should you happen to have a question, then what is this mind, good mind? What is this good heart?
Then, all you have to do is go backward for the last few days what we’ve been discussing. That’s what we’re discussing how to get to the good mind or good heart. Alright? Good heart, in the case of we’re trying to cultivate that essence of our mind, the bodhicitta bodhicitta, awakening full awakening mind. And that is the example of the best heart or good heart that we possibly can find here.
If you use the if we were to look for look for the example, another example of good heart or good mind or good motivation in this world, this world probably might be too small to look for. Even if we look for all other universe, all other planets that’s possibly is there, if we’re to find a mind or heart better than the bodhicitta, it’s almost impossible to find. All the buddhas of the past, all the bodhisattvas of the past have tried to look for other one. They have come across the best example of good heart or good mind is bodhicitta, full full awakening mind. The best form of form of a psychological makeup in terms of feeling good or feeling feeling good or good heart for others.
Here, Rinpoche quotes where he has said that all the experts in this field, which are obviously Buddhas. Right? They have engaged themselves in the years of years, spent years and years of time in a think tank to work it out, to look for the best form of mind. And they worked and they they, you they debated, they they argue or whatever, trying to work out or trying to find or check whatever experiment and so forth. For many many years, they have come to the conclusion which they have all have unanimously agreed that bodhicitta is the best example that one can find to to how to say to say this extent of good heart or good mind or loving mind.
Here, Rinpoche quotes, again, experiential instruction given by Lama Tsongkhapa. Right? Lama Tsongkhapa has said that there are a lot of spiritual trainings or there’s a lot of spiritual program designs through different levels of trainings in terms of how one can apply oneself in order to oneself make better. Better. Here, out of all the instructions here, Lama Tsongkhapa has maintained emphatically that out of all, most important thing, the most indispensable thing or instrument tool that one needs is the good heart, the bodhicitta, the motivational bodhicitta, the good heart.
So he had made that as his heart practice. So without that I’ll let the last one. Hard commitment. Yeah. That’s the hear it, you see the term Rinpoche use as a heart commitment.
Right? Why we call it like a heart commitment to explain that roughly, it is that it is the after having engaged engaged a lot of different practices during the day and night, when it comes to final place or final one single basis on which you wrap everything up, in which you absorb everything, in which and on which you base everything or in in or the base in which you roll everything, then that is the bodhicitta. Right? Is the on which he all the practice kind of or exhausting. It’s like a, isn’t it?
What the word term you use? The the outline sort of thing on which everything it’s like general outline, which kind of goes everything. That’s hard commitment. That’s why you call heart commitment. The day of end of the day, let me put this one now in a colloquial term, end of the day, all the activities which you roll into one, that is the call of the heart commitment or heart practice.
So in terms of a heart practice of our worldly activities or worldly day to day business business sort of term, perhaps you work out day’s quality, quality of days, job, or or or this the the how to say, whether you’ve done well or not. Perhaps at the end of the day, if if you had a bit of a dough in your hand, then you say, done a good job. So that is the kind of heart practice, the money. Money. From which you use money.
The dollars. That’s like a heart practice. If you make a fetish of that, you’ll be just, you know, you say you’ve done a good job, Tashi. That’s what I want you to understand. The It’s stick sort of, you know.
It is incredible practice actually. It’s practice, the powerful that we have. We sleep, we think of dollar see dollar sign. We we think dollar sign. We walk when we walk, we think of dollars.
We you know? Whatever Whatever the the chores we do, we always think somehow the money need is there. So so that is the that that bodhicitta mind is instrumental in everything you do, if you think carefully about it, for the bodhisattvas. You see, for them, whether they walk, whether they sleep, whether they take shower, whether they do anything, whether they help other peoples, or whether they help themselves for that matter, they all do it from through the mind of of the motivational bodhicitta mind. Now it is if it’s possible, now you should have a rough idea of how important this motivation of bodhicitta mind is.
Okay? This bodhicitta motivational bodhicitta mind. So whatever we do, if possible in our daily lives, in our daily life, we should try to we should try to motivate ourself through at least try to see or motivate ourself through whenever we whatever the domestic or whatever the chores we have to attend to, we must always try to do it through the, motivation or the bodhicitta point of view. Then while while the action may be the same, because of that positive power, that actions the benefit of that action can be turned into a into a further source, one more extra cause to reach to the to the final goal of final goal of enlightenment while it’s bringing bringing a very nice side effect to others others. And also, it will sort of it will keep control of our negative aspect or negative aspect of our mind and speaking obviously in the Lojong situation, then this is the mind that eventually will create a condition through which we can gain the ultimate happiness, ultimate joys of being fully enlightened, and ultimate satisfactions of helping helping others.
Here, Rinpoche quoted quote one of the Buddha’s teaching early on. He quoted that when Buddha said that Buddha said that, say, even by meditating meditating on a bodhicitta mind or the motivational awakening mind, the the the meritorious effect. If it were to be materialized and we look for a place, a container to put it in, there will never be a big enough container. Even use entire universe, they won’t be big enough to to hold all the benefit that follow as a result of meditating, a momentary meditation or momentary familiarizing, a momentary introduction of one’s mind to that of the awakening mind. So it is not it is not by any stretch of imagination, an exaggeration.
So to have that sort of motivational factor in our daily life is very important, very beneficial one. Now here, author is finishing this particular brand of teaching by dedicating its merit. The way the author has dedicated this merit is by saying thus thus thus while recognizing the three circles or three three entities, that is the object to which he dedicates, that’s the Buddhas, the subject which he uses as something to offer, the teaching itself, and the author himself as devoid of truly existent, as lacking the inherent existence, lacking the the the inherent fixation of inherent existence of those three entities, and he while being aware of that the very nature of what he’s offering and of himself and the Buddha’s. Right? He wishes that or he dedicates whatever the merit that has collected as a result of writing this teaching or giving this teaching or reading this instruction, giving this instruction may become the cause that ultimately eliminate the cause of all the problems of suffering and pains and aches of all other sentient beings, and may they become totally free of those problems and achieve attain the total totality of the enlightenment enlightenment.
The one bit Rinpoche is recited in Tibetan, that’s like a bit of a colophon of the authors. Right? A bit of a, like, a bit of prayer saying, you know, why he did this and, you know, a bit of a kind of a bit of a historical account on his behalf after completing the three sections of the instruction encompassing everything. So as the Rinpoche says, let’s finish. Let’s end.
Yeah. That was good. Now today, obvious today, we are well, we are approaching the end of this particular retreat. Okay? This particular retreat.
And to to reflect briefly about how we went about these things. Now I personally believe that you all are very fortunate fortunate of the fact that you got an opportunity to be in such a such a isolated area, which is to practice. And that the practice that you do is also of highest quality from the bodhicitta’s point of view, Mahāyāna’s point of view, And you and and on my own personal on my own personal sort of side of the story that due to the Rinpoche’s previous karmic connection or whatever you may call it, that that Rinpoche finds himself in a very fortunate position or situations of knowing a little bit about the teachings and having the privilege privilege and opportunity to serve you as a practitioner, a a trainees. So combining both of these, meeting of these two things, you and me, Rinpoche, not me, excuse me, Rinpoche’s side, gives gives a source of a deep deepest pleasure and happiness as well. And Rinpoche says that you have undertaken this retreat, this practice with the true faith in the teaching, true true devotion to the practice, to motivation, true motivation to the teachings.
And because of that, it has it has inspired Rinpoche as well to give the teaching or somehow it it has affected Rinpoche to give the teaching, to let the flow of the teaching, whatever he knows, the best way he knows, it sort of came out very nicely. And, And, also, he tried his best in terms of reasonably be a help for in in your practice. So with those things said, I have tried to give the teachings in conjunction with the with the the teaching I was giving before and in in conjunction with the with the current teachings without any exaggeration, without any fiction fictional addition on Rinpoche’s part. He has given as best to his knowledge to give the purest form of the teachings. And from your point of view also, you have listened what Rinpoche said, and you have made a lot of notes about the teachings.
And also, you have recorded in the cassette players. You record it in the cassette players. So using those thing to check your action, to check your practice, using those as a reminder to you, and try to put whatever you listen, whatever you learn into your practice as much as you can. Rinpoche says that that let’s not Rinpoche says that we have through the karma forces, we have taken numerous rebirths in our previous lifetimes. And we will be taking we will be taking a lot of rebirths until we achieve liberations.
So let’s not, you know, let’s not question about it. Let’s let’s not make a big deal out of it. So so today, you see, the opportunity that you have find in order to do something spiritually in this sense, it’s a it’s a it’s very rare to get that sort of opportunity. Probably, you may not have had a similar sort of opportunity in previous lifetime. It also is quite possible that you may never again this sort of a situation to practice again.
So, from the Rinpoche side as well, he feels that through the previous karmic connections or whatever you may call it, he has the opportunity to teach you guys, and we have met like this in this sort of fashion is is due to or must be due to a great deal of a good deeds we must have done in our previous lifetime. So meeting us like this, meeting us such meeting us in such a harmonious, such a productive way, it is source of a great pleasure for Rinpoche, and we all from your point of view, you must also feel the the fact that you got opportunity and feel quite happy about it. So if you can spare some of your good deeds, then try to dedicate some for those hardworking down the back, you know, who’s cooking and washing and, you know, providing the facility for us. Dedicate some merit for for them as well. See here, Rinpoche quotes one of the famous aphorisms by Milarepa, the great ascetic practitioner of Tibetan Buddhism in Tibet, that he said he one of his dedication prayers says like this, those who are meditating so hard and so diligently in the isolation’s lonely place in the cave, may those people and those who are working in a sweat in a sweat, the heat in the kitchens providing food or sustenance to the retreaters become enlightened at the same time.