Audio recorded at Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 100-minute session, Kyabje Rinpoche unpacks the First Noble Truth through impermanence, using concrete examples—pistol shots into cushions, finger-snap durations—to show how phenomena disintegrate instant by instant. He establishes why the Four Noble Truths matter: having higher rebirth as human or deity does not guarantee stable happiness; only realization of selflessness can free us from our appropriated aggregates, which are bound under karma and affliction. He systematically explains the four characteristics of suffering (impermanence, nature of appropriated aggregates, selflessness, emptiness) and their subdivisions, especially “all-pervasive suffering” as the fundamental samsaric condition. The session then shifts to the Eight Verses of Mind Training, focusing on meeting afflicted minds with antidotes and cherishing those who wrong us as teachers of patience. For practitioners with Buddhist grounding.
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File: 2013-05-22 – KR.mp3
UUID: d4bb2fbe-cd45-49d6-9170-dbd499872b46
Teacher: Kyabje Rinpoche
Collection: Four Noble Truths
Date: 2013-05-22
Recorded at: Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide
Words: ~4,799
So last time Geshe-la quoted a verse from Āryadeva referring to the accumulation of merit and in this context explain the importance of the accumulation of merit and the protection of ethics conjoined with uncontrived prayers to obtain the state to obtain a higher rebirth as a god or a human being. And on this basis, is possible to obtain a higher rebirth as a god or a human being through an ethics which is the abandonment of the 10 non virtuous deeds. But there is nothing remarkable about this if we reflect on the fact that at present we have such a higher rebirth and that it does not lead to stable happiness. What we need is stable happiness and we have to find a way to attain this. The question then is does there exist such a state of stable happiness?
It does. It has been attained many times in the past. Although it does exist, it is difficult to attain, very difficult to attain since its causes are difficult to create. However, if we do not create these causes at present when we have a human rebirth in the future, it will be almost impossible to do so. How can such a state of permanent happiness be obtained?
As Āryadeva explained, it can be obtained through countering the conception which realize or which apprehends the true existence of persons. And this can only be done on the foundation of the four noble truths. Otherwise, it would be impossible to do so. Why are these called the four noble truths? The translation is a misnomer in English.
It is really the four truths for an Ārya being. There are two terms here, truth and Ārya. They are truths because they are concordant with what is expounded in the great scriptures. And they are truths for an Ārya being because they reflect the way Ārya beings perceive realities. Ārya or noble beings perceive reality in accordance with its actual mode of existence, which is not the case for ordinary beings such as ourselves.
For this reason, one refers to the four truths for an Ārya being or the four noble truths. What are these four noble truths? They are the noble truth of suffering, of the origin of suffering, of the cessation of suffering, and of the path to the cessation of suffering. These are the four truths which the Buddha explained the first time. So each of these four noble truths has its own definitions and subdivisions.
The noble truth of suffering is defined as the noble truth fully differentiating impermanence, suffering, selflessness, and emptiness. So it is in the light of the necessary realization of selflessness that these four truths for an Ārya are called the Four Noble Truths. The first Noble Truth, as was explained, has the four features of the thorough differentiation of suffering, of impermanence, of self lessness, and of emptiness. It is the realization of emptiness which is necessary to counter the ignorance which apprehends the true existence of persons. What is meant by impermanence?
Impermanence refers to the fact that phenomena disintegrate, that they do not abide, that they are empty of permanence, and this must be established through numerous lines of reasoning. Then if we take the case of our five aggregates, our five appropriated aggregates are the Noble Truth of Suffering and therefore they have the first characteristic of the noble truth of suffering, they are impermanent. Why are the five aggregates impermanent? Because they are transitory, because they disintegrate instant by instant. When we say that these five aggregates are impermanent, from the standpoint of the lower schools of tenets, what is asserted is that there are three moments which each of the five aggregates has a moment of arising, a moment of abiding and a moment of destruction.
However, according to the Prāsaṇgika Mādhyamika system of thought, there are no such three moments. Instead, there is one instant both of arising and of disintegration. The viewpoint is much more subtle. Now when we refer to the instance in the context of impermanence, saying that phenomena are instantaneous, the instants which are frequently referred to in Buddhist philosophy are the one-sixtieth of the time it takes to snap one’s finger. But there are actually far more subtle durations of time than this.
And we can see this if we take the example of, for instance, shooting with a pistol into a cushion. Then the duration of the shot of the pistol into the cushion is obviously hundreds of parts of the time it takes to snap one’s fingers. So we have just here posited a duration of time which is far shorter than that of one sixtieth of a finger snap. So the topic of transitoriness or impermanence is a very profound one and calls for much reflection. And it is through reflecting on it that we see that our appropriated aggregates as well as all our possessions change instant by instant, and this leads to a reduction of the afflictions.
It is a topic which was must be meditated upon by ourselves within our own minds. Otherwise, it will be of no benefit to ourselves if somebody else tells this to us. And then if we reflect on it carefully, we can see that there is doubt whether we will rise tomorrow again. Therefore, that matter for that matter is also doubt whether we will leave the teaching hall alive. And this is a very powerful means to counter the obsession with the preoccupations of this life.
And the main goal of these reflections is to lead us to meditate on death and impermanence. We meditate on death and impermanence to counter the preoccupation with the worldly dharmas of this life. We have been preoccupied with these worldly dharmas for beginningless lives and we have absolutely nothing to show for it, don’t we? Therefore, the first feature of the noble truth of suffering is impermanence. This is just a concise presentation. Its second characteristic is suffering.
And the five appropriated aggregates are of the nature of suffering because in accordance with Buddhist texts, they are appropriated under the influence of karma and affliction. This reason, because they are appropriated under the influence of karma and affliction, excludes their being appropriated under their own power. And these suffering aggregates are appropriated under the force of one’s own karma and afflictions, not under the force of the karma of and afflictions of another. No other can impose them on us. We ourselves, if we examine, we will find that everything we do in this life, we do under the influence of the afflictions.
Whether we do them under the influence of desire, of hatred, of pride, of envy, in every single case we are actually slaves of the afflictions. The difference between ourselves and the Ārya beings, the noble beings, is that the noble beings have freedom. They no longer act under the power of the afflictions because they have the wisdom which has realized selflessness. This is something which is difficult to understand and we should examine ourselves carefully. If we examine ourselves carefully, we will find that every single of our thoughts is conditioned by desire or anger.
And in turn, every deed we commit is conditioned by those thoughts. Therefore, every deed we commit is conditioned by desire or anger and is non virtuous. If this were not the case, then we would all live happily since all the deeds we had done in the past would have been virtuous deeds, and we would not experience suffering. So independence, no freedom, no own power and it is precisely because our aggregates are conditioned by karma and the afflictions that they are of the nature of suffering. We do not see this, but the Ārya being see this And it is for this reason that we refer to this as a noble truth of suffering.
The third characteristic of the first noble truth is emptiness. What does emptiness refer to? It refers to the emptiness of inherent existence, specifically to the fact that phenomena are empty of appearing as they exist. They do not appear as they exist. They appear as they do not exist.
We can see for instance that we impute a self on the aggregates which is not within the aggregates. And the fourth characteristic of the first noble truth is selflessness. This selflessness is a more subtle presentation of emptiness and refers to the fact that the self does not exist from its own side. Each of these the four noble truths has four features. The first the four features of the noble truth of suffering have been carefully explained: impermanence, suffering, selflessness and emptiness.
Each of the remaining of the four Noble Truths also has four features. Therefore, the Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering has four features which include the conditionality of this Noble Truth and so forth. The third Noble Truth, the Noble Truth of Cessation has also four features and so does the fourth noble truth. One should try to know the 16 features of the four noble truths and meditate upon them to gain an understanding of the four noble truths. And one should therefore meditate on the four features of the first noble truth.
Here when we speak of meditation we are not referring to fixative meditation but to analytical meditation. This analytical meditation has to be rooted in a profound and careful study of the text. It does not happen easily. And therefore through meditating on the first noble truth, the first noble truth of suffering and seeing the four features of the five appropriate aggregates, we will not wish to stay in this state but to be freed from it. This is the goal of such a meditation.
And then through reflecting over and again on the first noble truth, noble truth of suffering, the question will arise where does suffering arise from? Is suffering a permanent state of affairs or does it arise from causes? It actually arises from suffering and this is the second noble truth, the noble truth of the origin of suffering which is the cause or the condition of the first noble truth. It is a cause or a condition which is concordant with the first noble truth. Just in the same way as the third and the fourth noble truths, the noble truth of cessation and of the path are causally related.
The noble truth of the path is the cause of the noble truth of the cessation of suffering. So we therefore have within the Four Noble Truths two sets of causes and effect. The first, the first two Noble Truths in which the Noble Truth of cessation is the noble truth of the origin of suffering, excuse me, is the cause of the noble truth of suffering. And the second set in which the noble truth of the path is a noble, is the cause of the noble truth of cessation. One of these two causal sets is to be abandoned.
These are the noble truths of suffering and of the origin of suffering. The other of these four noble truths, the noble truth of cessation and of the path are to be accomplished. Now Geshe-la would like to explain the division of the first noble truth of suffering into two, which is the suffering of the container, in other words, the environment, and the suffering of the sentient beings which dwell in this environment. Likewise, suffering can be subdivided into three, the suffering of suffering, the suffering of change, and all pervasive suffering. Then regarding the first of these subdivisions, suffering of suffering, this is something the wish to be bereft of is present in all our minds.
It is something we all understand. We wish to be free from both physical and mental suffering. There is no point in explaining it in detail. Even animals understand this very clearly. Animals are afraid of suffering and try to avoid it.
Therefore, it is not something which is difficult to understand. And therefore, when the Buddha Śākyamūni said, I shall explain suffering, he was not referring to the suffering of suffering, which is self evident, nor was he referring to the suffering of change. He was actually referring to all pervasive suffering. And therefore, we should not enter in detail in the presentation of the first subdivision of suffering, the suffering of suffering. Likewise, when the Buddha said he would explain suffering, he was not referring to the suffering of change since the suffering of change is one which is understood by the non-Buddhist tirthikas, the outsiders who fully understanding the flaws of impermanence and change try to escape from cyclic existence through the attainment of the first jnana.
This cannot qualify, however, as an attainment of liberation. So what can we give as examples of the suffering of change? Going for a walk in a park, enjoying something, we cannot say that all happiness is a suffering of change, but we can say that our happiness is a suffering of change. It is a suffering of change because it never lasts. And since all of the happy experiences we have are the suffering of change, the suffering of change is not something we can rely upon or we can trust.
We have trusted in it since beginningless time to no avail. The most difficult form of suffering to understand is all pervasive suffering. It is most difficult to understand what is referred to by all pervasive suffering. It is saṃsāra. In other words, if we were to give an example of all pervasive suffering, it would be our five appropriated aggregates which are substantial causes.
One might counter this and say these five appropriate aggregates which are substantial causes are not the all pervasive suffering because they are not a feeling. It is true they are not a feeling, but what is meant here when one says that these five aggregates are the suffering or pervasive suffering is that these five aggregates are appropriated under the power of karma and affliction, and they have been appropriated under the power of karma and affliction uninterruptedly with from beginningless time. What occurs when one is bereft of the all pervasive suffering? When one is bereft of all pervasive suffering, one will have attained liberation. How can one be bereft of all pervasive suffering?
Through the realization of selflessness. It is through that realization of selflessness that one can abandon karma and afflictions. This is very difficult and therefore calls for effort. So this is the presentation of the noble truth of suffering and Geshe-la will develop the noble truth of the origin of suffering next time. Before the recitation of the prayers, we should generate the motivation since the prayers have no meaning without the motivation.
Motivation. And therefore, before taking refuge, the Mahāyāna taking of refuge, first from the very depths of our heart, we should generate the wish to take refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha. This is the act of taking refuge. And then the two last verses of the stanza of the Mahāyāna refuge refer to attaining the state of full enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings. We should generate the motivation of setting all sentient beings without exception in that state.
Then on this basis, we offer the seven limb puja, the seven-limb prayer, and after this offer mandala. So first, please generate the motivation and then we will recite the prayers. So Geshe-la, I would like that we generate the motivation while we are praying in accordance with the words. Yeah. Then moving onwards with his Holiness’s commentary on the eight verses of mind training.
When the afflicted states of mind arise, it is important to counter them with the requisite antidote before they become powerful. It is obvious that whatever afflicted state of mind arises, whether it is desire, hatred, ignorance, avarice and so forth, we have to act while they are at their inception. Once they have become powerful, we fall under their sway. Then if it has not been possible to apply the requisite antidotes which would be meditation on ugliness as an antidote to desire, meditation on forbearance as an antidote to hatred, various meditations as an antidote to ignorance. At this point, at the very least, His Holiness’s commentary says, if this was not possible at the very least, one should find means to cause the afflicted states of mind to fade.
For instance, one could go outside for a walk or control one’s respiration. One uses whatever means one can to lead the afflicted mindsets to abate. Should we inquire what the thoughts of engaging in such afflicted mindsets are? Once we have fallen under the sway of these afflicted mindsets, not only will we cause our own unhappiness, but in addition, we will in the future accumulate both physical and verbal karma which will induce suffering, for instance, in reliance on anger, we will engage in harsh speech and eventually engage in brutal and coarse physical behavior leading us to inflict violence on others. Through such karma, eventually in the future, we will be led to experience great suffering.
So this is evident. When desires and afflictions take control of our mind, they grow ever stronger and eventually in the case of anger can cause rebirth in a hell realm, whereas for instance avarice or stinginess would cause rebirth as a hungry ghost or a preta. This is something we can see quite clearly. His Holiness’s commentary continues. in dependence on that, it is said, our body at present depends on whatever we did in the past, whereas where we shall go in the future depends on our present mind.
This is actually, Geshe-la says, a quote from sūtra whose meaning is as follows, In our present state, the human rebirth of leisure and endowment, we can see an effect of virtuous deeds in the path, specifically the practice of Dharma in the path. Should we wish for such effects in the future, we must engage in practices of ethics, which Geshe-la explained last time, such as the abandonment of the 10 non virtues conjoined with stainless prayers for rebirth as a human being. Should we not do so at present but act under the sway of the afflictions, there will be no other path but that of rebirth in the lower realms. His Holiness’s commentary continues, the general state of affairs at present depends on former karma. Likewise, our future happiness or suffering in turn is in our hands at present.
This is explained in Buddhist treatises as the process of cause and effect or causality. What is referred to here by the process of cause and effect, Geshe-la says, is the process whereby a virtuous cause necessarily leads to happiness, whereas a non virtuous cause necessarily leads to suffering. This is known as cause and effect. We wish for a happiness which is a freedom from suffering and wish not to experience suffering. This happiness arises from virtuous karma, whereas suffering in turn arises from non virtuous karma.
Therefore, we ourselves must abandon non virtue and engage in virtue. The process of cause and effect is contingent on the motivation. If we engage in the practice of virtue and the abandonment of non virtue with the motivation of attaining full enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings, these deeds will lead to the attainment of full enlightenment. If we engage in these virtuous deeds and the abandonment of non virtue for the sake of attaining liberation from suffering, these deeds will lead to the attainment of liberation from suffering. If we engage in them for the sake of obtaining a higher rebirth as a human being or a deity in a future life, these deeds will lead to such an attainment.
Finally, if we engage in virtue and abstain from non virtue, thinking exclusively of happiness in this life, this is not Dharma practice and will not lead to these results. It is important not to engage in these practices of the abandonment of non virtue and training in the establishment of virtue merely for a couple days in an interrupted fashion, but instead incrementally to train one’s mind in these and practice over time. We cannot abandon anger or desire in a matter of days. It is incrementally over time through applying the antidotes that by targeting anger and desire, this anger and desire which are wrong states of mind, which are mistaken states of mind will decrease and progressively disappear. So these are not afflictions which can be abandoned in a matter of days.
It is over the weeks, the months, the years, over time that progressively through applying the antidotes, the power of the afflictions decreases and we can see this in our own private experience which one of us when he or she first heard of bodhicitta or renunciation was able to generate these states of mind. At present, over the years we have a better sense of what these states of mind are and are able to generate some type of feeling when we meditate on them. The following verse of stanza of the eight stanzas reads as follows, when I see ill natured sentient beings overwhelmed by wrong deeds and fierce suffering. May I cherish them as something rare as though I had found a treasure trove. Here, evil sentient beings referred refers to sentient beings which are overwhelmed by the afflictions and this stanza indicates to us that these are necessary to us.
They are necessary for our practice. His Holiness’s commentary on this stanza reads as follows. Upon seeing or encountering beings with such an evil disposition or alternatively beings overwhelmed by extremely harsh suffering or great difficulties, instead of looking down on them and keeping them at a distance, we should see them as extraordinarily precious and worthy of love. The reason we should not look down on them and keep them at a distance is because if we do so, there is a great risk that anger and irritation towards them will arise in our mind. We may scold them for that matter.
We may speak about them scoldingly to others. And as a result of this, we will experience suffering in both this life and in future lives. We will experience suffering because what we inflict upon another, we ourselves will experience and therefore instead of looking down on these beings, we should instead look upon them with love and speak kindly of them. His Holiness’s commentary continues. Nowadays, Christian monks take care of the poor and the destitute.
Likewise, formerly in Tibet, the practitioners of Lojong of mind training, became the attendants and the servants of lepers. Geshe-la says that this is something which we ourselves should think about and engage Through relying on these wretches, we will be able to give rise to supreme bodhicitta, and they act as a cause for meditation on patience. In addition, we will be able to take upon ourselves their sufferings and therefore upon encountering them we should see them as a treasure trove which is most rare. The following stanza of the eight stanzas of mind training of Geshe Langri Thangpa is when someone out of envy does me wrong by insulting me and the like, may I accept defeat and offer the victory to them? The meaning of this verse is that when someone out of envy or any of the other afflictions, it can be anger, it can be jealousy, it can be spite, does me wrong by insulting me, by deprecating me, by offending me and the like.
May I accept defeat? Accepting defeat here means to practice forbearance and patience and in practicing forbearance we accept defeat at their hands and offer the victory to them. As I said in his holiness’s commentary, from the standpoint of mundane activities, should someone for no reason whatsoever use harsh language towards us besmirch us, it is appropriate to respond forcefully. However, for one who is striving for the attainment of the state of Buddhahood in the context of training the mind in altruism, this is completely inappropriate. And the commentary moves onwards, unless there is a specific purpose to a forceful response, it is a mistake to do so.
Here specific purpose refers to a specific benefit in a forceful response. If there is no clear and specific benefit, it is wrong to answer forcefully. Should another under the sway of envy or of intense dislike scold us or for that matter beat us. Instead of responding forcefully in kind, we should take upon ourselves the burden of defeat and we must give them victory. Should this be impossible?
And when His Holiness says should this be impossible, he indicates the great difficulty of such practice. Even though such practice is definitely difficult, nonetheless, one must definitely engage in training the mind single pointedly in altruism. So we shall stop here for tonight. We have to end unfortunately at 08:30. And Geshe would like to take your questions.
Please. It is said we live in a degenerate time. Does suffering of beings in a degenerate time actually increase as the degenerate time progresses? No. The suffering of sentient beings is the same an age of degeneration.
However, the term age of degeneration means that the number of evil doers is far greater and the power of vice and of sin is far greater. Whereas during this period because of the degeneration, the power of virtuous practice is much greater as well. The afflictions in the minds of sentient beings become more and more coarse and in turn the results of these afflictions greater and greater. There is more and more work to do. The power of sin and vice is far greater nowadays than in days of yore.
In the past, for instance, if one wanted to kill someone, one had to use a bow and an arrow and one could kill only one person at a time. Nowadays through merely pressing on a button, it is possible to kill millions of people simultaneously. This is a clear sign of the age of degeneration. Geshe-la, the fifth verse of thought transformation, is that an entreaty not to react strongly to people who denigrate you or rather than not trying to clear your name? Because I thought somewhere in the lamrim, it talks about if somebody speaks wrongly of you, you should try and clear that up.
So the question is, is it to remain calm and be reasonable and avoid a strong and emotional response? Or is it a suggestion you just let it ride and do nothing about So the meaning of this verse is when someone offends us or insults us without allowing anger to arise in our minds, if we can say something which is of benefit to that person, we should say it. If it is something which will enter in their minds, otherwise we shouldn’t say anything. I have been reflecting on impermanence and on the phrase or the thought that all conditioned phenomena are impermanent. The welfare state is conditioned phenomena.
Therefore, the welfare state is impermanent. It fills me with such terror, absolute terror. And my response to that was to bother the minds of two fellow lay people over the phone, disrupt their work and bother their minds because I was so terrified at that thought. My question is how and as a result of bothering their minds, I was pointed straight back to the teachings on refuge, that terror, for, in my experience, is the basis of refuge. So my question is how do I move from frozen terror to remembering to take refuge without having to ring and bother the minds of two other people who I rejoice.
And I rejoice in being here So you should not worry. There is no such thing as receiving money from anybody without the karma for receiving that money having been created since one does not encounter a result whose cause has not been created and since karma is inexhaustible. Therefore, if the karma is present, even though the government were to stop all of its welfare payments, you would nonetheless get money from other sources. If on the other hand the karma is absent, even though the government continues welfare payments, you won’t see any of the money. Oh, yeah.
Tomorrow night, living the path and a great opportunity for beginning a grounding in Buddhism led by experienced students under the guidance of
Key terms in this teaching
- analytical meditation vicarabhavana (Skt); che gom (Tib)
- Of the two main types of meditation, this is a meditation where the subject is examined using logical reasoning, as opposed to single-pointed concentration or fixed meditation where the mind focuses on one single object. LYWA
- five appropriated aggregates
- The last of the eight types of suffering; how we suffer because the aggregates are "appropriated" or controlled by delusion and karma. LYWA
- four noble truths denpa zhi (Tib)
- The subject of the Buddha's first turning of the wheel of Dharma. The truths of suffering, the origin of suffering, the cessation of suffering, and the path to the cessation of suffering as seen by an arya. LYWA
- hungry ghost preta (Skt); yi dag (Tib)
- The hungry ghost realm is one of the three lower realms of cyclic existence, exemplified by incredible insatiable hunger and thirst. LYWA
- suffering of change viparinama-duhkhata (Skt); gyurwäi dug ngäl (Tib)
- What is normally regarded as pleasure, which because of its transitory nature sooner or later turns into suffering. LYWA
- suffering of suffering duhkha-duhkhata (Skt); dug ngäl gyi dug ngäl (Tib)
- Aka the suffering of pain; the commonly recognized suffering experiences of pain, discomfort and unhappiness. LYWA
- thought transformation lojong (Tib)
- Also known as “mind training” or “mind transformation”. A powerful approach to the development of bodhicitta, in which the mind is trained to use all situations, both happy and unhappy, as a means to destroy self-cherishing and self-grasping. LYWA
- true existence den par yö pa (Tib)
- The concrete, real existence from its own side that everything appears to possess; in fact, both self and phenomena are empty of true existence. LYWA
Definitions adapted from the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive glossary, as taught in the Gelug tradition.
Questions answered in this teaching
Does the suffering of beings actually increase as a degenerate time progresses?
No. The suffering of sentient beings is the same in an age of degeneration. What the term means is that the number of evildoers is far greater and the power of vice and sin is far greater. The power of virtuous practice is also much greater during this period. The afflictions in the minds of sentient beings become more and more coarse, and the results of those afflictions grow greater and greater, so there is more and more work to do. In the past, someone who wanted to kill had to use a bow and arrow and could kill only one person at a time. Nowadays, merely pressing a button can kill millions of people simultaneously. This is a clear sign of the age of degeneration.