Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 11-minute session, Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen connects advanced and foundational Buddhist practices. He begins with rainbow body—the ultimate sign of success in tantric practice—then teaches prostrations, accessible to all. He gives the precise form: hands folded (visualizing jewels held between), touching the crown (collecting causes for Buddha’s crown protrusion), forehead (Buddha’s qualities), throat (speech), and heart (omniscient mind), followed by full-length bow. One key instruction: rise quickly, a sign of wanting to escape saṃsāra fast. He closes with merit dedication using Samantabhādra prayers and addresses a practical question: does dedicating merit to others’ enlightenment diminish your own accumulation?
File metadata (for organising)
File: 11 ALB.mp3
UUID: 9cae8b39-2d2b-4ade-93f4-722d9a71754e
Teacher: Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen
Collection: A Look at Buddhism (Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen)
Date: 1995 (exact day not recorded)
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 11.5 minutes
Words: ~773
Geshe-la that didn’t actually saw saw actually, I wanna say, rainbow body, but he know he knows people who have seen. So this rainbow body for example, that those very high practitioners who like the yogis, who do the practice of the generation stage and the completion stage practices on tantra. And then when successfully practicing on these, they can actually make their own body, the physical body very small and very small They can travel with this body to pure lands. So like in As Geshe la heard from some of the people come came from Tibet, like, hearing that some some very high lamas, like in the prison during the practice. And then they they they achieve this rainbow body, which they they as a sign, they just see their nails and some hairs left behind.
But then rest, they don’t see anything of their body so that they did success with this practice and went to the pure lands. Mhmm. Could Geshe-la explain the correct way. Sorry? So one can do many ways, very extensive ways, but then quick way short is that one can imagine that whatever merit one have accumulated, dedicated in the same manner like the past, those of the past Buddhists, like the past present, and future Buddhists.
So, like, the king of the dedication prayers are known as Samantabhādra prayers. So so like it is as Samantabhādra and his prayers, similar, I do that. So whatever the past present and future Buddhists have dedicated, then I also dedicate for the same purpose. Yeah. Yeah.
So there’s many way of doing prostrations. Like, just showed, like, just one hand and bowing down like this with with respect. That’s a prostration too. So so then So then, like, the normal prostrations that we do is you fold your hand, not like a not like this, but you put your thumbs inside. So, like like holding something like this.
Like holding usually, it’s just putting these two thumb bending together inside. It’s a it’s a it’s it’s like sign of holding you. So, like, if you look to the ten basic picture or the photo, then two hand is folding and then holding between the two hands is a jewel. So what what do we when we do like this, like bending two thumbs into inside, we have to visualize the thumbs the jewels. So then, like touching once in the crown is to, what is it, to collect cause to have Buddha’s Ushnisha.
And and then the second is touching at your forehead. So that So to like, touching here is that you see there’s a circle there, a white circle, which is to receive one of the qualities of the Buddha known as hair treasury. So, like, touching hair becomes a cause for that. And then touching at the throat, at throat here is to collect the causes causes to to achieve the speech quality of the Buddha. And then touching at one’s heart is to to achieve the the fully the omniscient mind.
Mhmm. So then after touching these three, then you you like, you have to touch to the ground, your forehead and through palms and the knees. And then if you do the, like, the full full length, then you have to, like, as a light, like, completely on the ground. Which is all you do to bend the half half prostrations. So when then when you are when you are when you are touching the ground, you shouldn’t stay there for a long time?
Like how do Muslim do their respect? Not not like you shouldn’t stay there. One should get up quickly. And there’s a what do you say? It’s a it’s a getting up quickly.
It’s an isn’t something auspicious. So which is a sign that one should think to get out of saṃsāra quickly. So similar there are other many, what you say, explanations, so one can explain here, but we don’t have time now. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.
So so this is the fifth week, Tuesday, and that we have discussed or talked many topic on many top topic. So whatever merit we have accumulated out of that, we should dedicate for the sake of all other sentient beings in order to achieve fully enlightened state. So if you dedicate this merit towards others in order for oneself to achieve fully enlightened state, then it’s not that they will take your merits. Still it’s good for one. It’s not like giving your money away to someone else.
Yeah. Yeah. So thank you. Said, well, I look tired. Yeah.