Audio recorded at Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 102-minute teaching, Kyabje Rinpoche explores karma doctrine through vivid examples: how the Buddha offering a handful of grains to Buddha Kāśyapa led to rebirth as a universal monarch, and how a workman insulting a stupa project was reborn small-bodied yet with a beautiful voice. He establishes that all experience—happiness and suffering alike—arises from karma and afflictions, never from God’s will. He traces how virtuous and non-virtuous deeds lead to rebirth in different realms, and explains karma’s four essential features: certainty, increase, non-arising without cause, and inexhaustibility. The teaching then shifts to the Eight Verses of Mind Training, where he offers a counterintuitive instruction: those who harm you are supreme spiritual teachers for forbearance. Without enemies to provoke anger, he teaches, patience cannot be cultivated.
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File: 2013-05-29 – KR.mp3
UUID: 0996a427-20b1-4fa9-bfe6-a1907b42c76a
Teacher: Kyabje Rinpoche
Collection: Four Noble Truths
Date: 2013-05-29
Recorded at: Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide
Words: ~4,002
The characteristics of the noble truth of suffering. The definition of the noble truth of suffering is a noble truth which is differentiated in terms of the four characteristics. Irrespective of where beings dwell and what they engage in, they experience the noble truth of suffering differentiated in terms of the four characteristics of suffering and permanent selflessness and emptiness. Is this something which you understood? This is something which is difficult for us to understand.
It is difficult for us to understand because of karma which prevent this from being easily accessible to the mind. All of our objects of enjoyment which we view as happy are none other than of the nature of the truth of suffering. And they do not arise causelessly nor do they arise without conditions. They arise in dependence on causes and conditions. These causes and conditions are the second noble truth, the noble truth of the origin of suffering.
It is not the case that the triple gem for instance wishes us to experience suffering. When we speak of the noble truth of the origin of suffering, we are speaking both of karma and of pleasure or karma and afflictions. The term karma means deed. There are two categories of deeds, both of which lead to results. There are both good or virtuous and bad or non virtuous deeds.
Karma arises as a result of affliction and as a result in turn of karma, rebirth in any of these six realms occur with the variance appearances which beings take in these different realms. Therefore, suffering arises from the origin of suffering and the origin of suffering itself is karma and klesha, karma and afflictions. The definition of the noble truth of the origin of suffering is a thoroughly afflicted truth which arises in dependence on its four characteristics I. E. Causes, originations, conditions, and thorough differentiation.
The first characteristic of cause applies to the noble truth of the origin of suffering because karma is cause. In the syllogism, karma is cause because it is the cause of suffering. In the same way as in the simile of the roots of a tree, the entire tree can be said to find its origin in the roots. Likewise, the noble truth of suffering finds its origin in the noble truth of the origin of suffering which is its cause. Why is the characteristic of conditionality applied to the Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering?
Because the Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering is a cooperative condition of suffering. From within the twofold division of causes into substantial causes in cooperative condition, the noble truth of the origin of suffering is a cooperative condition of suffering because it’s a cooperative condition of other suffering. The fourth characteristic of the noble truth of the origin of suffering is thorough differentiation. It is said to be thoroughly differentiated because it is thoroughly differentiated into the causes of numerous other sufferings. Of the noble truth of the origin of suffering, the characteristics of cause, of origination, of conditionality and a third differentiation have been explained.
In addition, the noble truth of the origin of suffering can generally speaking be subdivided into karma and affliction. Karma in turn can be subdivided into karma impelling a rebirth in the higher realms and karma not impelling a rebirth in the higher realms. Karma can broadly speaking also be divided into three categories. The first broad categories: immutable and mutable karma. Immutable karma causes rebirth in the form and the formless realms whereas mutable karma causes rebirth in the realm of desire.
Mutable karma is subdivided into two contaminated virtuous mutable karma and contaminated non virtuous mutable karma. Contaminated virtuous mutable karma causes rebirth in the higher realms of the realm of desire and contaminated non virtuous mutable karma causes rebirth in the lower realms of the realm of desire. In turn contaminated virtuous karma can cause rebirth in two broad realms, the realm of the gods or of the men and the divine realms are in turn subdivided into six divine realms including the realm of the 33 and so forth. Whereas human rebirths are subdivided into rebirths into any one of the four continents. Non virtuous contaminated karma can cause rebirth in the three lower realms the animal realm, the realm of pretas and the hell realms. In turn immutable karma can cause rebirth either in the form or the formless realm.
Form realm rebirths are subdivided into four. The rebirth in the realms of the four dhyanas or the four concentrations and immutable virtuous karma leading to rebirth in the formless realms is subdivided into four as well, which makes eight so called realms in which rebirth is caused by immutable karma. Rebirth in each of the four dhyana realms of the form realm can in turn be subdivided into three rebirths for the realm of the first concentration, three for the realm of the second concentration, three for the realm of the third concentration and eight for the realm of the fourth concentration. And there are therefore 17 rebirths within the form realm. Three each in those of the three first concentrations and eight in that of the last concentration.
From a very small cause, a very large karmic result can be experienced. This is something which we do not understand. If we did understand it, we would be very wary and observe our minds very carefully. To give you an example of this, in a previous rebirth in which he was reborn as a universal monarch of the four continents, the karmic cause for Buddha Śākyamūni taking such a rebirth had been his throwing or casting a couple of grains in the begging bowl of the former Buddha, Buddha Kāśyapa. A couple of the grains fell in the begging bowl of Buddha Kāśyapa and the karmic result of this was extraordinary since it led to rebirth as a universal monarch as well as rebirth in the kingly caste, the caste of Kshatriyas.
And one should reflect on the fact that this was karma accrued from a deed which was almost unintentionally. He just cast the grains in the bowl, and yet the maturation of this karma was rebirth as a universal monarch, which was a rebirth he actually did not intend. Likewise, when Buddha Śākyamūni was traveling around India, a couple of lay people came up to him and the wife overwhelmed by faith made a small offering to the Buddha. As a result of this offering, the Buddha prophesied a great rebirth for her in the future. Her husband, however, was of a skeptical turn of mind but said nothing And the Buddha understanding this looked at him and said, deny not that a small cause can cause a great result.
And the Buddha said to him, Buddhas do not lie and I shall give you an example to illustrate my statement. Take a great tree which can provide shade to 500 chariots. That great tree has a cause, doesn’t it? And its cause is a mere seed. If this is a case for external causality, how much more so this be the case for internal causality?
As a result of Buddha’s, example, the, layman developed faith. Another example of the great potency of karma is the case of someone who disliked the sound of monks reciting and said your recitation is akin to a dog’s barking. As a result of such a statement, he was reborn for 500 lives as a dog. Another famous example is that of one of the workmen on a large stupa which was erected by the king of the land and trying to express his discontent with such vast labor the workman said, I wonder why precisely the King is erecting this stupa. Then after the stupa was completed he repented for his hasty statement and offered a beautiful bell to the stupa to atone for this deed.
As a result of these two different karmas accrued in a future life he was reborn as a result of the first karma as a small ugly man. But as a result of having offered a beautiful bell to the stupa, he had a beautiful voice. And therefore for ourselves, we must pay great heed to the karma we accrue since as a result of very small karma we may experience insupportable suffering in the lower realm and likewise as a result of a very small virtuous karma we may experience the most extraordinary felicity. And this is why one must reflect on the four general features of karma, the fact that karma is certain, that karma is increasing, that one does not encounter karma which has not been accumulated, and that karma which is not purified is inexhaustible. The certainty of karma refers to the fact, as Buddha said, just as the type of cause you have accumulated is the type of effect you will experience — that karma is certain in its results.
Virtuous karma can only lead to happiness. Non virtuous karma can only lead to unhappiness. The third general characteristic of karma is that one does not encounter karma whose cause one has not created. In this case, it should become quite obvious to us that all of us without exception hope for the best. We hope for happiness.
We hope for wealth. We hope for relationships. If we do not encounter any of this despite our prayers and our hopes, it is simply because the karma was never accumulated. The inexhaustibility of karma refers to the fact that karma never disappears. It never ages.
It never decays. It cannot disappear in our dreams nor would it disappear unless we have applied the antidotes which are the four opponent forces. And therefore, karma is inexhaustible in that it never disappears and dwells within us until the causes and the conditions for its maturation are present at which point it matures. All in the other religious traditions, it is taught that our experiences both happy and unhappy are the result of the will of God or for the Christians the will of Jesus Christ. This is not at all the Buddhist perspective.
From the Buddhist perspective, everything we experience both happy and unhappy is the result of karma and causality. This is something we should engage in analytical meditation upon in keeping with the Buddha’s instructions. When the Buddha said, monks and scholars do not accept my words upon my authority instead analyze them as a goldsmith analyzes gold rubbing, cutting, and smelting it. There are many passages and quotes regarding this which Geshe-la will not mention. Suffice it to say that it is said one who respects karma and causality in turn protects ethics.
One who protects ethics will be reborn in the higher realms. One who is reborn in the higher realms will attain liberation and full enlightenment. Likewise, one who disregards karma and causality will fall lower and lower in the cycle of existence. And therefore we are completely alone in this matter. There is nobody who can place us in the higher realms just as there is nobody who can place us in the lower realms.
It depends entirely on the karma and causality which we ourselves have accumulated. If we have accumulated good karma, we will be reborn in the higher realms. If we have accumulated bad karma, we will be reborn in the lower realms. As Buddha Śākyamūni said, I am my own protector. So Geshe-la will stop here.
His presentation of the second noble truth, the noble truth of the origin of suffering and its twofold subdivision into afflictions and karma. And at present to generate the motivation to listen to these teachings on the eight verses of mind training, please take two minutes to generate a mind of refuge and then the wish to set all sentient beings without exception in the state of full and utter enlightenment. Moving onwards in his holiness’s commentary on the eight verses of mind training. Nonetheless, I do not say that it is necessary in every single circumstance to take upon oneself the burden of defeat but exclusively to do so in the context of practice. The meaning or the purpose of this practice is through taking upon oneself a small defeat to experience a great result. Should one be able to respond forcefully with a motivation of compassion and without anger, without taking upon oneself a small defeat to experience a great result, this would be acceptable.
Should, for instance, one be dealing with a violent person who, however, much oneself and others practice forbearance becomes ever more violent and disregards the advice to abstain from this behavior, then if one continues indefinitely to practice forbearance, there will be harm to both the person who is violent and to their victims. At this point, if forbearance is no longer of benefit, it is legitimate to use forceful means if oneself is able to have complete restraint of one’s mind and act within compassion. This is obviously not the case for most of us. For instance, it is mentioned within the 46 branch bodhisattva vows that one must counter the faults of another if one has the possibility to do so. Definitely the evil deeds of another when the opportunity arises.
For instance, in a previous rebirth when Buddha Śākyamūni was reborn as the captain Mahakaruna, he transported some 500 merchants on his ship. Within these merchants, one planned on murdering the 499 remaining merchants to appropriate their goods. Despite the advice which the captain gave to this evil doer over and again to abstain from such a heinous deed, his mindset did not change. The captain then decided to take upon himself the risk of death the merchants were facing and to protect the lives of the merchants out of compassion. In addition, he thought that it would be better for one man to be killed than for many to die.
As a result, he substituted substituted himself as a sacrificial victim. The explanation of this account in the Jatakas, Geshe-la says, is that the captain of the ship who was a previous incarnation of Buddha Śākyamūni and probably had paranormal powers was able to perceive the thoughts of the murderer to be. And despite the advice he gave him, this man refused to desist from his evil projects. The captain then analyzed the situation and motivated by compassion both for the murderer to be who will be reborn in the hell realms and for the 499 merchants who would be slaughtered, decided to take upon himself the non virtuous karma of killing another being, substituting himself as it were as a sacrificial victim for the others. Then, thinking in this way, he killed the evildoer-to-be.
Generally speaking, killing is a non virtuous deed. However, in this case, the captain was motivated by great compassion both for the future victims of the evildoer and for the evildoer himself. He killed him with great compassion as a motivation. We therefore cannot say that all deeds of killing are non virtuous deeds. Let alone being a virtuous deed, this was an extraordinarily virtuous deed.
All of the deeds performed by Bodhisattvas become causes for full enlightenment because they are performed with bodhicitta and great compassion as motivation. As Śāntideva said, all their deeds become causes for full enlightenment. Therefore whether a bodhisattva is walking, sleeping or eating, those mundane deeds all become causes for full enlightenment. This deed of murder became a cause for full enlightenment. In our cases, we neither have great compassion nor bodhicitta.
So this does not apply to us. What does apply to us is the fact that we have vows. In our case, we may have the bodhisattva vows. Then if the bodhisattva vows are kept uninterruptedly, over time the accumulation of virtue which is accrued to keeping these vows act as a cause for the arising of bodhicitta and of great compassion. So it is important for us to keep the 18 root and the 46 branch vows which we have.
Likewise, should we have for instance lay vows? In every single case it is important to keep these vows continually and uninterruptedly. Some people say I have taken the vows but don’t need to bother to keep them. This is nonsense. It is important to keep the vows one has taken.
Returning to His Holiness’s commentary, this is an example of the imperative necessity for bodhisattvas to counter the non virtuous deeds of other beings. As I said in the following stanza of the eight verses of mind training, even if someone whom I have helped in whom I have placed my hopes, this great harm by harming me, may I see them as an excellent spiritual friend. Generally speaking, when we have been of great benefit to someone, we are entitled to expect that they return the benefit in kind. However, if they fail to do so, incurring from their own side a great fault, from our own side, we should view them as teachers. So we there’s a Tibetan expression for people like that.
It amounts to some people who are no good whatsoever in English because whatever one does to them, they are only angry in response. Whether one is kind to them or whether one is harsh with them, the response is the same. His commentary on this verse reads as follows. When we have extended great kindness to another helping them and instead of returning the kindness in kind as we are entitled to expect, they return no kindness whatsoever in kind, but instead behave harshly and brutally towards us, then we are in a situation where despondency is warranted. However, in the context of practicing the generation of bodhicitta which benefits others, such a being must be seen as the foremost being towards which one should practice love and compassion.
Since Śāntideva says in his bodhisattva, Karyavatara, supreme among all teachers is that being who sees us as a foe. What sort of a teacher should we see him as? We should see him as a teacher of forbearance or patience, the forbearance of putting up with evil deeds. Indeed, if we are not in the situation in which anger might arise, we are also not in the situation in which patience might be practiced. To practice patience, we must be in situations in which the possibility for anger exists.
While we are able to understand the presentation of forbearance through relying on a spiritual teacher, We will not be able to practice patience through relying on the spiritual teacher as a cause for patience. It is through the encounter with an enemy and that alone that we are able to train in forbearance. All through our spiritual teacher, we can understand the necessity for the practice of forbearance and how to practice forbearance. We will not be able to practice forbearance relying on our spiritual teacher. We will be able to practice forbearance relying on someone who tries to induce anger within us.
Therefore, such a person is akin to a spiritual teacher and most kind. It is indispensable to meditate on forbearance to lead to the enhancement of uncontrived love and compassion. And for this to occur, it is indispensable to practice. The base for such a practice is one who is our foe and such we must see as the supreme of spiritual teachers. Without such a person who is our enemy who tries to harm us, we are unable to practice forbearance.
Oh, yeah. That is one. It is not necessary for such a one to have the motivation to help us or to benefit us in a loving way. Clearly, one’s enemy has no wish whatsoever to help us. For instance, teachings which we have striven for long to obtain, the noble truth of cessation for instance, do not have the motivation to help us in the slightest.
Yet we cherish them, we view them as fundamental and have great respect for them. Therefore regarding the increase of one’s good qualities as well as the enhancement of the accumulation of merit. There is no difference as far as the presence or the absence of motivation is concerned. In addition, it is in dependence on the motivation which is filled with violence that we assess whether a being is a an enemy or not. For instance, we do not consider the surgeon which inflicts pain upon us during an operation as an enemy since he does this with the motivation of helping us.
The enemies are exclusively beings who act motivated by the thought to harm us. We are therefore unable to practice patience through relying on our spiritual teacher and can exclusively practice it on the basis of such a foe. Such a person is therefore extremely important. We shall stop here for today and Geshe-la will take at present your questions. In terms of practicing patience with someone who you might consider to be your enemy Mhmm.
Mhmm. And considering how important that is, how much of your daily experience would one devote to that? Because isn’t the objective to sort of surround yourself with like-minded and like-motivated people? So are there any guidelines for The nature of the practice of patience is that it is occasional. We practice patience when we meet an enemy.
Then if we are unfortunate enough not to meet an enemy, we don’t have the opportunity to practice patience. Then if you don’t have an enemy, the way to practice forbearance is to reflect on the harm somebody did you in the past And let that feeling of harm increase within you but then say to yourself, I will not get angry. I shall practice forbearance. This is a way of practicing forbearance on a small scale. If you’re in the situation where you are working, then by definition you’re surrounded with numerous people, some who do their jobs, some who don’t do their jobs, some who may be verbally intrusive, then every single one of these is an occasion to practice forbearance.
It happens frequently that in situations like that, one cannot say anything to the person who causes a disturbance. It would interfere with one’s work. And in this context, one should not allow one’s mind to be troubled. Instead, one should one should think these people are doing this out of ignorance. They do not understand.
I feel compassion for them. Compassion. And one should think these people are not evil people. These are actually good people who are influenced by bad past karma. They do not understand the situation.
They do not know how to behave. They are objects of compassion. This situation, we should do the same thing if we have the power to do so. And if we don’t have the power to do so, we should search for means to act. You have to search for means to do this.
You should reflect that basically you have many people who will die and it is possible to save them with the life of one person. And could you give an example to make it a bit clearer? Yes. Clearly, if you were to kill somebody in that situation, you would have accumulated a non virtuous So we clearly committed to non virtuous deed because this person was no longer intending to slay others. We ourselves were unable to understand this and killed him by mistake.
If one understands truly the situation, then we must search for such means. So the Tibetan term which means, it’s translated in English as thorough differentiation, simply means in this context that the origin of suffering creates powerful suffering, great suffering. It does not merely generate suffering, it generates extreme suffering.
Did you understand? Enjoy some delicious chai.
Key terms in this teaching
- bodhisattva vows chang sem dom pa (Tib)
- The vows taken when one enters the bodhisattva path. LYWA
- dhyana samten (Tib)
- An advanced form of concentration meditation after realizing shamatha (calm abiding). LYWA
- form realm rupadhatu (Skt); zug kham (Tib)
- The second of samsara’s three realms, with seventeen classes of gods. LYWA
- formless realm arupyadhatu (Skt); zug me kham (Tib)
- The highest of samsara’s three realms, with four classes of gods involved in formless meditations. The four levels are limitless sky, limitless consciousness, nothingness and the tip of samsara. LYWA
- four continents
- In Buddhist cosmology, the four continents around Mount Meru, one at each cardinal point; ours is the southern continent, Jambudvipa (Rose-apple Land). LYWA
- higher realms
- The higher realms comprise the more fortunate rebirths as a human, god or demi-god. LYWA
- six realms
- The general way that Buddhism divides the whole of cyclic existence; there are three lower realms (hell, hungry ghost and animal) and three upper realms (human, demigod and god). 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
Definitions adapted from the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive glossary, as taught in the Gelug tradition.