Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 45-minute teaching, Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen addresses a seemingly paradoxical challenge: why practice impermanence meditation when your life is already good? He begins with the cosmic context—we live in a fortunate eon in which Buddhas appear—and explains the rarity of achieving human rebirth with all eighteen qualities needed for dharma practice. He then directly tackles the complacency that prosperity can bring: when one has comfortable shelter, good food, and health, meditation on death can feel like self-imposed suffering. Yet this, he argues, is precisely when one has the stability to genuinely practice. He walks through the logic of impermanence, how change happens moment-to-moment, and the urgency this should create. Pitched at practitioners with basic Buddhist familiarity.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 04 CwC.mp3
UUID: a66a9a68-4d0c-4f07-81c6-5be2b8da4d25
Teacher: Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen
Collection: Coping with Change (Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen)
Date: 1996 (exact day not recorded)
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 44.6 minutes
Words: ~2,239
So so at present time, this time is is is is like Buddha coming to this world, which is the lamas the lamas like a like lamas like Buddha or or lamas one like the lamas which is known as the second Buddhist Buddhas, and they are also the the instructions or the Dharma teachings. So because of the existence of these two serves as being Buddhist. So so so this this, I would say, this time or this period that Buddha coming to the world is known as eon of light or the the period of light. And and and those those periods when where Buddha is not those periods where where Buddha is not there. It is known as the aeon of darkness.
So this period right now is known as the the eon of light, which which Buddha Buddha which would have come to this world? So so in this eon of light or also known as the fortunate aeon that it is said that thousand Buddhas will will appear or come to this world, which they also you know, another there’s also two two belief, which there’s a thousand Buddha going to this world or thousand and five Buddhas coming to this portion of the event or this time. So so those thousand Buddhas coming to this world is not that one is coming what is it? One coming after the another. It’s not like that.
Not like that. So at present, it’s known as the lifespan of human is eighty. Sorry. Hundred. So so then the the lifespan of human is present is hundred, which which decreases down up to up to the last ten years.
So so at that time, when human beings have less than ten year, the teaching of the Buddha is a normal exist normal existing. It’s a yeah. It will disappear. So then again, human lifespan of human increases, which increases all the way up to eighty thousand years of lifespan. And and and and then when when it when it start decreasing from that stage or eighty thousand years of lifespan, when it start decreasing, then then Buddha appears to the world.
Right. So so now up to now, only four Buddhas came. So up to now, of those thousand fortunate Buddhas, four have come to the world, and and Buddhists will appear into the world only when when the human lifespan is degenerating. So so then so then gradually, all those Buddhas these thousand Buddhas will appear to this world. And then then at the end, there appears the the eon of darkness.
And said that only for. It’s sixty eons of darkness. So so and it’s said that after the sixty eon of darkness appears one eon of light. Huge is in the middle of the. Then after that, again, there is sorry.
There’s one thousand great aeons. Ten ten thousand eon of darkness. Okay. And then And then So so so then after that, there’s again one one eon of light. And after that, there’s again three hundred eons of darkness.
So so then after that, again, there’s one eon of light. So in that way, this is how it explained in in the text. So so so like in between these four aeons of light, and there there is There is ten thousand three hundred sixty aeons of darkness. So so so in between here, there are, like, there are four, you know, fortunate aeons. So so we have been fortunate enough to to be born in one of these fortunate eon, which one of our past life have collected the good karma and made good prayer where we have achieved this precious human body now with with eighteen qualities.
So so we should we have achieved this precious human rebirth, so we should we should make, what is it, best use of it, which which we we should make best use of it, which So so we should make best out of it which and that doing pure Dharma practice which that will prevent us from falling into the lower realms in our future lives. So as if one is to point oneself and analyze, For example, I myself as being a fully ordained monk. But if I point all my five fingers towards me and analyze, my act of body, speech, and mind, then then then it it’s a it’s it shows that there’s only one one place that I I I would go in my next, which is the low low realms. So if we examine or analyze in this way, then it shows that to achieve human rebirth in our next life is very difficult. So but but, how do say, accidentally or out of our karma.
If we, again, happen to obtain human body again in our future life, still it’s extremely difficult for one to have all these qualities that have the eighteen qualities. Yeah. So the reason that it’s extremely difficult for us to have the eighteen qualities is because in order to achieve those eighteen qualities, need one thing. What we need is the faith in the teachings in the Dharma teaching in the Dharma. And that is very difficult.
So so it’s difficult because if we to count people in the in this world to see, like, it’s it’s some like, in the world, if we do look, then those with those who have faith in Buddhist Buddhadharma is So and similarly, in this country, like, there are lots of people here, lots of people in the country, but who those who have faith in Buddhadharma, Buddhist teaching is is only how to say? How to say? Just enough to fill this room. So if of those eighteen qualities, if one if one misses one if one is missing, then one doesn’t have all the eighteen qualities? So, like, those that the time when Buddha Śākyamūni was living like in Bodh Gaya.
That time, there were many, what do say, non-Buddhist non practitioners around that time. And all those non-Buddhist practitioners, they have like, except one, they have all of the eighteen qualities, except one, they have all other quantities. So so what what they missed that one quality is they don’t have the faith in in the in the in the teachings. So so for the purpose of of explaining that we should meditate on impermanence is is what do say? Is that telling us that we should we shouldn’t postpone doing our Dharma practice.
We should, like, saying that I’ll do tomorrow or next year or or in the future. Not not to not to, what do you say, to stop that. To to stop that, we we are taught to do meditation on impermanence. So in in in in one way of of thinking that if if like, if if one one is in in in prosper, that one one have a good place to live, good clothes to wear, and everyone is healthy in one’s family and good food to eat. At that time, when one is like that, like, very prosper, at that time, one might feel why I suffer I make myself suffering by meditating on impermanence.
One might one might feel like that. So one might feel that that why I should why I should suffer meditating on impermanence. But but but that that is if you if you are doing the Dharma practice, then that is the right time. You have all the necessary things there to or is it necessary things there where you can do the practice. So there are still the human beings there still there, but the human beings at that time very wealthy.
And and their life, they have long lifespans longer lifespans. So the only thing that they they lack is there’s no Dharma teachings. But the human beings are very wealthy. Their lifespan is much longer. So no.
But then now this time, this age is known also known as the the age of five degeneration. And it’s known as the degenerate or worse age. Leading meditations. He said that he he will also explain the how to do meditation on impermanence and death in the in the in the next teaching. So one thing meditating on impermanence, which that I wanna say, looking into applying the reasons that how the thing or this body that doesn’t stay even for a moment unchanging, which which, more to say, change take which changes moment to moment.
How and by by applying reasons and and checking that how this body changes moment to moment. That means that’s a lot to calculate. There’s a lot to calculate, and he said we need to compute it to to do all this. So the calculation is like saying that it takes quite a long long time. Which is it?
Is this it? Probably, So, like, one way of counting that there’s a twenty aeon. There’s a twenty aeon which is explained, and twenty of that aeon is one great aeon. So so this this one even, how they how they calculate is that from the lifespan of ten, human lifespan of ten, it goes up to all the way up to eighty thousand lifespan of human human lifespan, which which then it again comes to, I would say, infinite lifespan of infinite human lifespan. And then it fall again then from that infinite lifespan of human.
It disintegrates down to down to ten and down to ten. Well, when in between the the the infinite lifespan where and there’s a total of. There’s six eighteen what do you call? There’s a like, in between the eighteen hooks and the count. Not anybody.
Right? So alright. Sorry. No. So not not a hook.
Sorry, from ten to eighty thousand and back to ten years less than, they count as one, and eighteen of that is counted in the between state. So this one that that one of one of the that eighteen. Yeah. Yeah. One of that eighteen intermediate.
It’s it’s also said it very, very long. So it said that when when Buddha Śākyamūni during the time of Buddha Śākyamūni, when Buddha Śākyamūni can be this world, that time, the human lifespan is known as a hundred. So so then when Buddha passed into, like, it’s been two thousand previous six or seven years now. So and Buddha Śākyamūni is is said that Buddha Śākyamūni’s teaching remain in in the world for five thousand years. Yeah.
So even just to count the span of Buddha Śākyamūni’s teaching, how long Buddha Śākyamūni’s teaching will last, like, from a hundred the last one of hundred years human last one of hundred years to ten. It’s there, like it’s very long. Yeah. I have. I believe.
Yep. Second one. So it’s the first one is and second is in Sanskrit, Kanakamuni. And then third one is. And then the fourth one, Kāśyapa, check it.
Check it. Check it. It. Fourth. So Yes.
That’s the, what is it, period which is explained in Abhidharmakosha text. That’s the period which how long Buddha’s teaching will remain. But the others, he said, he don’t know. It is it is said for five thousand years. But, again, it can increase or it can decrease depending on the, you know, the the merits of.
So but not not one is a student, but which the merits of sentient beings. So So that action of giving even if you don’t have a motivation has still has a has a merit. But but then if you have a motivation, depending on which level of motivation that you have, you accumulate that degree of merit. So it said that if if that if that action have have no merit as a as a result, then it should be it should be same that if someone without any motivation came in slash punch you or slash, let’s say, slash you, then that action too shouldn’t have any negative result or negative negative consequence. Okay.
There’s only one thousand five hundred Buddhas, and say Produce to that amount, which is Sorry. I’m sorry. Let’s see. What sorry. What Geshe-la was saying was Buddhists are, you know, countless Buddhists like a and the thousand So so those thousand or the thousand five buddhis known as deep known as they come to this world in the form of emanation body.
And for example, now that Maitreya Buddha, that’s the future Buddha, who will becoming the future Buddha, now is residing in in in the form of in the form of king in the aspect of king in. So so which attribute now is in the Tuśita heaven where in the aspect of Sambhogakāya. Sambhogakāya form. And when the time comes that come to this world where he come in the form of an emanation body. And the reason that need to take the emanation body is that is that if he do come in the form of Sambhogakāya yeah.
Sambhogakāya body, then the ordinary beings won’t be able to see. And so for that purpose, he has to come in the form of. So so then when Maitreya Buddha when Maitreya Buddha’s time to come to this world, when he leaves that Tuśita heaven, then the sixth Buddha will take his place in in