Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 18-minute teaching, Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen reveals that generosity extends far beyond material goods: reciting mantras aloud, chanting the Heart Sūtra, and performing Tonglen all become acts of giving Dharma. He teaches practitioners to visualise all sentient beings reciting alongside them, drawing on texts where gods and nagas gather to listen when the Heart Sūtra is chanted in groups. He cautions that if someone dozes during recitation, these beings may bring harm. Through the cooking analogy—you cannot enjoy food without cooking knowledge, no matter how rich—he shows why wisdom matters as much as good intention. He recommends anchoring yourself in a primary Lamrim text like Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand while respectfully engaging other teachings, and emphasises that helping requires knowing whether an act truly benefits them. Pitched at practitioners new to formal Buddhist study.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 15 FoP.mp3
UUID: 327d953b-2632-483f-b5ad-d6606703a26d
Teacher: Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen
Collection: Foundation of Practice (Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen)
Date: 1996 (exact day not recorded)
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 18.0 minutes
Words: ~902
Such as giving or generosity. That when we think of giving, we tend to think we have to give something like wealth or something material goods. But but that’s not the only thing that one can give. So there are many things that one can give. Beside beside that.
So, it suggests like when you are in a place where there are many people around and if you just recite the mantra quite loud and if you let others hear the mantra then that becomes a means of giving Dharma teachings. And and same thing when if one is to recite the twenty one praise to Tārā. At that time, one can visualize all sentient being around one. And while one is chanting, one is leading the chant and then imagine everyone is reciting with one. And that too, like it becomes, let’s say, giving up Dharma teachings.
So such as like the Heart Sūtra that in the history it says that if one is to chant the Heart Sūtra loudly then there are many beings like human and non human, some come to listen to that sutras. So so yeah. So in the Lamrim teaching also it says that if there’s ten people reciting the Heart Sūtra text and say if one is not reciting, if one falls asleep. At that time it says that because one is reciting, all reciting the Heart Sūtra it says that there are many gods and nagas come to hear these sutras. So So while they come to hear these sutras, if they find out someone is dozing and sleeping, then says that they bring harm to that person too.
So and and other things like when when one is doing one’s daily practice, when chanting the prayers, one should chant loud, and imagining that one giving Dharma teachings. And also, that of the the Tonglen practice, giving and taking practice, to become a practice of giving Dharma teachings. So, like, when when one is giving one’s body, transforming one’s body into different things like food and drinks giving to those different beings such as the hungry ghost and other beings, If one like giving that too becomes giving material goods, yeah, which is the practice of giving. And he said that even if you are very rich, if you don’t know how to cook the food, then you don’t enjoy. Even if you are very poor, you know how to cook, then you can make, I would say, you can enjoy.
So if you have if you are very rich, a lot of money, but you don’t know how to cook, then you can’t make good food. You can’t cook, and you can’t you don’t have anything to eat. So you can’t eat the money. Like, the text to to recommend to read is like the text which the chapter on morality. But probably I don’t think there’s English translation on that.
So so yeah. And so, like, reading the the great teachings, like Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand and and other great Lamrim teachings which explains in very detail. So these are to read. So it is advised to read many, what is it, different text. But first, to one has to have one text that which one is following and one stick to that one and then read other text which is, and if you find something, if you have many something which is useful from other text, using like taking those and sticking to one one of or once one practice but then taking the other information and yeah.
So but then if if the other teachings, if that doesn’t What to say? If that doesn’t explain the same way that one is following, then one shouldn’t disrespect them. One should still respect them. So if one is to disrespect them, then again, one receives this negativity of abandoning Dharma. So which respecting the text or the teaching which one is following and if one is not to respect which is like kick the other teachings then it’s not right.
So once you’d, like I said, follow do the right thing. Follow the right way. Any question? So for example, like, subduing or benefiting the others, Like if one first need to know whatever one is helping, whether that is benefiting to the others or not. And also one need to know whether by doing that act whether that have a good result or not.
If one knows this, then by knowing these two, and if one is not to do that act, then one receives that form. So same with the miracle powers. Even if one doesn’t have miracle powers, if one knows that by doing that to the person, if it’s benefits and if it has a good result, and if one is not to do that act knowingly out of delusions like anger or hatred, then again, that’s the same thing when it’s fixed. Yeah. So as depending on the situation, if the person somehow like looking at the person, one can tell whether it’s benefiting or not, what one is bringing to the person.
If one outwardly sees that it is beneficial, then it’s good to do the act. We stop in here. So, well, you don’t have to do prostrations at the end here. It’s auspicious future. To meet again.
Okay. Thank you.