Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 44-minute teaching, Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen presents the meditation on impermanence and death as the foundation for developing genuine bodhicitta motivation. He teaches a complete meditation structure: setting motivation, visualizing refuge objects, the seven-limb practice, and then the core visualization—vividly seeing yourself surrounded by friends lost to death, traveling alone through the intermediate state, and experiencing the intense sufferings of lower realms. He explains how attachment and hatred harm both self and others, and why this meditation is essential for practitioners. He stresses that when done repeatedly with clear visualization, this practice fundamentally transforms fear and priorities until dharma practice becomes the only meaningful response to mortality.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 05 CwC.mp3
UUID: a01ed6e2-3e4a-4648-bf09-abb6df46868c
Teacher: Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen
Collection: Coping with Change (Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen)
Date: 1996 (exact day not recorded)
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 44.7 minutes
Words: ~2,546
So quoting a line from a text called the seventy verses of prayers where it says in the prayer that one should collect the causes which brings happiness to sentient beings, and one should avoid collecting the causes which brings harm to the sentient beings. So the cause that brings harm causes that brings harm to sentient beings are those of out of attachment and hatred and you separate sentient beings, Those of being near and far, and out of that and these are the causes that brings harm to sentient beings. So this attachment towards other sentient beings and the hatred towards other sentient beings, not only harms those other sentient beings, but also it harms to oneself. So so out of attachment and hatred, that one experience, I would say, the unhappiness. And similarly, that is what causes harm to other sentient beings.
And not only that, also not only that, but one one is under the influence of attachment and anger, which that also, what is it, displeased the Buddhas of the ten directions, all all Buddhas and their son. So how it displays the the Buddha’s of the ten direction is that as it is said in the Guide to the Way of Bodhisattva’s Life that in that text it says that the most kind Buddha’s Buddha Śākyamūni and the other Buddha’s have seen the practice of bodhisattva being the most beneficial for all sentient beings. And so when we have attachment and hatred towards sentient beings, then we are going against the advice of those buddhas. So going against the practice of bodhicitta. So that because of that, it displeases the Buddhas.
So, then on the other hand, the causes of happiness of other sentient beings is that avoiding these two, attachment and hatred, and engaging in the act that which removes the sufferings and that which brings happen and then collecting those costs that which brings happiness to them. In the same way how like taking care of those sentient beings, in the same way how one take care of one’s own child. So, our responsibility now is to collect those causes which brings happiness to other sentient beings and the best time is now. And especially I would say we’re doing Mahāyāna practice. The essence of Mahāyāna practice is to work for the benefit of others and also to work for the benefit of others and to give up the self purpose or working solely for the self.
So so then do we have this complete power or are we able to like remove all the sufferings of other sentient beings and bring them happiness right now, then we don’t. So as it is said in the in one of the text by one of the Bodhisattvas saying that those beings being whom those beings who with whom themselves are bound by delusions in saṃsāra, how can they, what to say, free free others or bring happiness to others? So so so those like, even those gods like Brahma and Indra, they they don’t have this complete power to bring happiness to all sentient beings and not even even those of the hearers and Pratyekabuddha, they they too don’t have complete power to bring happiness to all sentient beings and like, with us because with us, we we certainly don’t have. So, but we do need to practice this or for bringing happiness to sentient beings and remove their sufferings And so who can do that is the Buddha who can do that, who can completely work for the sake of others. And so that motivating now that I’ll have to achieve that state of Buddhahood.
So so to achieve that state, first first, one had to collect those causes and one of the causes is practice of bodhicitta. And before you start practicing bodhicitta, you have to set a right motivation or dynamic motivation. So what is it? Atomic motivation or pure motivation, which you can which how how one can set this motivation is through contemplating or meditating on impermanence and death plus meditating on the precious human rebirth. So so in order to have a pure motivation or a dharmic motivation, one need to contemplate on impermanence.
And before you contemplate on impermanence, you have to understand impermanence and to understand that one had to, for that purpose, to understand impermanence, I’ll listen to this teaching. With setting this type of motivation we do short meditation. So so then, Geshe-la, today will first explain how we do meditations on impermanence and death. And and then later on, Geshe-la explained the benefits of doing this meditation. So so as Geshe-la will explain how to do this meditation on impermanence and death.
And when you have time or when you are back in home, you can meditate with how Geshe-la explained here. And and this meditation, we should not just do one or twice, but should continue should should continue all the time to this meditation on impermanence and death. Note that when you do one or two meditation that you have the experience or you have the fear of death and the fear of lower realms right away. But if you continue, when you have the realization of impermanence, then there’s a point where you come to decide right there that nothing but to do Dharma. So first is that to meditate or contemplate that that we’re certainly going to die.
And this thought, we we all have this that we are certainly going to die. So so then the next step is that we have to contemplate the uncertainty at the time of death. And we all think that we will die, but but we but on other hand, we also think that we are young and we won’t we will not die right now. And then and then next on the third step, we have to contemplate that the time of death, how to say, nothing but dharma is the only thing that which is helpful. That’s one one had to contemplate.
So normally, generally, we have this we all have this thoughts that if I if if I’m if I’m living or if I don’t die, will do Dharma practice. I will do work. I will do, what do say, things which are beneficial for this life. This is this is the thought that we all have. So for, what do call, for religious practitioner, this thought is what is it?
This way of thinking is not right. So, but what we should do is that we should be mindful or we should think deeply of the death which is certain to one and then work on those different methods which which removes those fears of death? So that is definite and when death strikes, strikes, they should have some differences, those who practices and those who don’t. So especially for the practitioners, pure practitioners, they should have some difference, like different death, not being the same kind of death experience that those ordinary who don’t practice. So this impermanence and death which we don’t need to be proved with logical reasoning, but we just we can we say, we don’t need to be it doesn’t need to be proved by logical reasonings.
And it’s something obvious that we can see, but even then we don’t we don’t experience, we don’t go to, we don’t have the fear of death and that is because we we don’t because we don’t meditate the impermanence and death of our ourselves. And because of that, we don’t we don’t see the fear or we don’t experience the fear. So so because of that reason, we we have to meditate impermanence and death upon ourselves. So any meditation that you do, whether meditation on karma, refuge, precious human rebirth, or bodhicitta, you first need to set up a good motivation. And and after setting up the motivation, then then you you what to say?
You do the visualizations. That is the visualization of refuge objects. And that depending how detailed you can do, extensive or or abbreviate it depending on one’s one’s one ability. So so after visualizing the refuge object, then you do a short practice of seven limb practice together with mandala offerings. And then if you are meditating on impermanence and death, then you make a request to the refuge object to bestow upon you quickly the realization of impermanence and death?
Yes. So then after through the power of request, imagining that from the refuge object, lights and nectar, I would say, showers down and touches the three places. Lights and the nectar comes from the three places of the refuge object and touches the three places of oneself. And imagining that this light and nectar purify the negativities that is, I wanna say, accumulated throughout body, speech, mind. And not and then you can end not only yourself visualizing this but you can extend the visualization which visualizing all sentient being around sitting around one in the form of human beings and and also visualize the refuge object and and then do the same purification.
So so after this request or this purification for taking nectar and light, again, you make the request to quickly for you to have the realization of impermanence or whatever meditation you are doing or the bodhicitta or other meditations. So so then then the well, that’s the point where then you start the actual meditations on whatever subject you’re doing. So so so the actual meditation, whatever you you do, the actual meditation will explain in the little later. And then when you finish the actual meditation, then then you do the finishing or the conclude conclusions which you you dissolve the refuge objects, whatever, however extensive that you have visualized. Like, if you have visualized lamas, deities, and bodhisattvas, you just dissolve all of them to one’s root guru And root guru to dissolving into one from the crown entering through your central channel and coming to the heart, heart chakra and where then the guru becomes, what do call, inseparable with one’s mind.
So that’s how you dissolve the refuge object. Mhmm. The dissolution. Yeah. So so then then finally, do the do the dedications, the dedicating prayers, which you you dedicate the merit for the achievement of full full enlightenment.
And if you do that, then all all your effort, let’s say, that you have put in this practice becomes worth it. So so then going back to actual meditation, if you are doing a meditation on impermanence and death, then you should do that meditation upon yourself? And visualizing like a sorry, The the universe and the the beings within as you we see it right now, like visualizing all of them. And and then like like the normal way that you live, you you also visualize or imagined that your friends and relatives like the way how you how you interact with them, like eating or talking, whatever. You visualize them being there.
And and and while visualizing all those friends and relatives around and and also contemplating what what what they talk, how they what they discuss on. Like most of most of the time that we discuss things which are helpful for the purpose of the which are helpful to this life and what are things that we use and what are things that we want in this life. These are what we think, what we talk. So thinking, contemplating all these all those things. So so all this visualization being very obvious in front of one like that being making this visualization very clear that your eyes can see right in front and while you do that and then you start thinking impermanence and death upon oneself that debt is striking to one.
So so among all these ones are our relatives and friends that one now facing the impermanence and death. One facing the death, which now that one one doesn’t even live for a moment, but one is going through the process of death. So so then then when death strikes one, then one doesn’t hear the word that is spoken by our relatives and friends around. They too, those relatives and friends don’t hear we talk and not only that, but our eyes also can’t see them and what they see is dead body across. So so then then continuing with the meditation which that one is traveling alone in a place where one have never been to, where one have no company, no one around that one have known and which is one is going through the intermediate state and imagining that this that in your visualization, that it’s making it what’s it being actually that you’re going in these states?
So so then after that, one of the destination where we’ll go is to the lower realms and imagining if one is to like or contemplating in your visualization that if you are to be born in in the hot hells, how all type of suffering that you go through, that one being inseparable from the heat. And similarly, if you were to be born in the cold hell, then how how much suffering of cold that you go through that ones are being inseparable with cold cold hell. And and similarly the suffering of animal realms and the the suffering of the hungry ghost realms. So so like contemplating contemplating or visualizing in your meditation all this. And when you do that very very clear with clear visualizing oneself being there in this state, then that is what makes oneself to have fear the lower realms and and also the fear in in what’s the impermanence and death.
So similarly also that as it is said in the guided way of bodhisattva’s life that like visualizing or imagining that oneself lying the bed and almost facing the dead and imagining all your relatives and friends who are sitting next to you. But of there are all those people sitting around you but but the fear and the suffering of death is once alone which has to experience. No one else will experience for one. Like, how to say, as example, like taking out the hair from bottom. Like a single one alone single leg has to experience this fear of death and suffering of death.
Oneself have oneself alone have to experience this experience of death. So so then at that point, you can contemplate or think whether the friends and relatives of this life, are there be any help to one or not? And and similarly, also, one to one partner whether whether they be any help at the time of death, like boyfriend or girlfriend or wife or husband, they too is not any help. So so when when the dead strikes to one, that is the that that very time is is is where everyone, how to say, recollects what they have done in their life. And even those who have never done any practice or those who don’t do any religious practice.
Even them, they remembers their past, what they have done in their life.