Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 44-minute talk, Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen draws on Śāntideva’s Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life to address a foundational problem: our negative actions vastly outweigh our positive ones because vice requires no effort while virtue demands constant motivation. He proposes meditation on bodhicitta and emptiness as the antidote, then teaches a structured approach to bodhicitta meditation—visualising all sentient beings around you, generating love and compassion toward them, and understanding the refuge objects (Buddha, Dharma, Sangha) as worthy of reliance. The core of the teaching focuses on the thirty-two major signs and eighty minor marks of a Buddha’s body, exploring their symbolic meanings—webbed fingers representing the four means of gathering disciples, smooth limbs indicating generosity, copper-coloured nails signalling freedom from attachment. Pitched at practitioners already familiar with basic Tibetan Buddhist practice and refuge.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 07 GP 1996 02 18.mp3
UUID: adef5f64-c987-439c-b619-6802aa521a68
Teacher: Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen
Collection: Graduated Path (Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen)
Date: 1996-02-18
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 44.5 minutes
Words: ~1,983
So quoting a line from Bodhisattvacharyavatara the text, the Guide to the Way of Bodhisattva’s Life, where it says that which can outshine the negativities. The best that which can outshine the negativities is the enlightened mind or bodhicitta. So, like, using analogy or example, giving example in the sutras saying that mice, they can’t, are, what’s that? They are unable to look to the eyes of the cat. So this analogy is used that the the eye of the cat is like the bodhicitta, the eye of the bodhicitta, and mice is the negativities.
And these negativity like the mice can be outshined by the eyes of bodhicittas. And in in this line of Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life, it says that our negativities are very strong and our virtue is very weak. So so that even at this very time that we have met with the teachings of the Buddha and have achieved this precious human body with all the qualities. And if we want to analyze the day that we spend, then the virtue and the non virtuous action we do in a day, if we were to compare then the negative action, it’s much stronger than the Buddha’s action. So that our negative actions or negativities are much stronger than our virtuous action if we just analyze the day.
And the reason is that to do action we need to put effort and we have to motivate ourselves to perform that virtuous action. But then on the other hand, with the negative actions, we don’t have to put effort or we don’t have to motivate to do that. So so because of that, the the negative actions are much stronger than the virtuous action. And and similar to that, if we person or human being with having all the eighteen qualities and the human being would not having these complete eighteen qualities if we to compare the numbers then double or triple more those human beings without these eighteen qualities. So if this is the case that we have our negative action is more heavier and our positive action is more very weak, What can we do?
Then as Śāntideva advised in his teaching saying to do the practice of meditation on bodhicitta and emptiness, to do the meditation on emptiness. And these are the two which outshines negativities. So the meditation on bodhicitta not only outshines the negativities, but that too, the meditation on bodhicitta becomes a cause of liberation and especially the cause of mind is enlightenment. So so so how we do meditation on bodhicitta? Here, most of you know how to do these meditations.
And if there’s someone who don’t know, then visualize all sentient beings in the form of human around one. And then in this space before one visualize the complete refuge object. So and then meditate love towards mother sentient beings who are around one, that thinking how nice if all of them have happiness. And and then secondly, thinking that unless if they have all the causes of happiness and sinking I I will bring the causes of happiness to them. That way, meditating on love.
So and then similarly meditating on compassion towards meditating compassion towards all mother sentient beings, which thinking how nice if all the all of the sentient being is free from suffering and and making this prayer may they be free of all types of sufferings. And and also I myself will free them from all types of all the all the causes of sufferings. So meditating on compassion compassion and yeah. Meditating on compassion in this this water. And and so here we should we do a short meditation on that.
So that the the refuge object that one had visualized in the space before one, those refuge object, what what type of what type of power and how these refuge object can protect or free one from the state of lower realms. This we’ve explained. So these refuge object are awarded to take refuge. And for that last in the last teaching, Geshe-la explained several reasons. One is that these refuge object refuge of themselves are free from all types of fears and secondly that they are skillful in freeing others from all types of fears and this object works for the benefit of all sentient beings.
So so then the further detail qualities of of these refuge objects, like the qualities of Buddha, the qualities of Dharma, and the qualities of the Sangha. And first, I have to do explain the qualities of Buddha, Buddha’s body, and Buddha’s speech, and his mind. So the the qualities of of a Buddha is not that we can experience or we can see. And, but explaining these qualities, I’m explaining these qualities here according to what has been explained in the teachings, in the text and and giving some of some some of those qualities here. So the qualities of Buddhist can for the qualities of Buddhist body, the qualities of Buddhist speech, and the qualities of Buddhist mind, and and the qualities of Buddhist activities.
So so the qualities of Buddha’s body explain as the thirty two signs signs or qualities sign of qualities and eighty marks. So these are the thirty major signs and marks. These are explained in in Abhishma Alankara text by Maitreya. So the these different signs and marks of Buddha, like explaining one by one. Initially said he won’t be doing that.
One thing that that, what do you say, he also don’t remember completely. And secondly, like, going through a translation, it’s you might not understand. We shall study will just explain the causes of what what what causes these qualities and what are the causes of these different qualities. And similarly, the eighty minor marks, these are also known as the different powers of his qualities. So one of the qualities is, as explained in Abhisamayālamkāra that the hands and feet are marked with wheels.
So the designs are which, sorry, which signs are that which represents good goodness. So so as a sign of goodness that in Buddhist on Buddhist hands and feet, they are a sign of will. So these will this will a sign of goodness and this come into existence through the power of Buddha’s merit? So and then And the the fingers sorry. Fingers of the Buddha’s sorry.
The fingers of the Buddha’s hand, the fingers and, sorry, the toes, they are webbed in between like, what to say, total waterfowl feet. So the what is it? This having the webbed fingers and toes is a sign of showing the form or the means of gathering. So before means of gathering, which is gathering a disciple, is that the first means to gather like practicing giving food and clothes to gather disciple. And then second is that giving teaching according to the needs of the the disciple.
And the Dharma teaching should be given according to the behaviors or the needs of the disciple. So such as these are like four means of gathering and and then the marks like so the signs having the fingers and toes is a sign that it, showing the four means of gathering. So so then the other qualities of Buddha’s body, like the hands and feet are smooth and youthful. So so these signs like having smooth hands and feet plus having youthful complexion is to show that provides a perfect, I would say, perfect clothings for the That’s one one type of sign. So so then sorry.
The seven part of his body, like if those the back of the BAM and the BAM and the back of the sole. Total of four. And and then back of the shoulder and your neck. Yeah. Then And then two inside, like, the sole and the palm of the hand.
So, these seven parts of his body are, what do you call, what do say, little bit popped. Convexed and which all these seven parts which is the sign that or the quality that we received by practicing, I would say, great by practicing generosity, which is like providing food and shelter to to sentient beings. So similar to these, they are of the thirty two major sign signs. So then, Maitreya Buddha explains the eighty, I would say, minor marks which according to the sūtra, which So so the first the the first of the three eighty marks marks are three qualities of the nail. So, the first quality of the nail is a copper color and second is number.
Very shaft, what do you call, shaft in the color. Very bright or deep in the color. And then thirdly, what was the word? Convexed or yeah, curved. That’s the third qualities of the nail and which which is not not not like our our nails.
That the one which is which the Buddha’s nail is, let’s say, different than ours. So the first quality, like the copper color nail is a sign that he is free from attachment, free from attachment which is attachment towards the compound phenomenon. Then second is the rich or or deep in color. So that sign is that a sign of quality that is achieved without, which is received to benefiting other sentient beings, not having the thought of near and far towards sentient beings. So so then the third one, the nail which is quality, convex or what is it, around a beautiful nail that is designed which is sign showing that Buddha is born in a prosperous caste.
Oh, yeah. So so similar to So similar so like likewise, total yeah. In this quality, they are total of eighty one. Sorry. Eighty.
So the marks are, I wanna say, complete qualities of, the complete qualities of, complete quality of Buddha, which is completing the all completing completeness of all knowledge. So as an example, the what do call it? The pollen and the flower is a a is a part or a fraction of the flower. So the pollen, the flowers shows, what do say, shows the beauty of the flower. Flower.
And similar to that, the thirty two So so similar to that, the the thirty-two signs of the Buddha are beautified by the eighty, the minor marks. So the explanations of this sign and marks is, yeah. So it’s as I said, we do this much. Yeah. Oh, yeah.
So the the sign is also according to says that the sign is which shows the person is is to become holy beings. So then the marks are let’s say, it’s a mark that we shows the being have these different qualities. So as it is said in in the text that well, like, gathering all the virtue of heroes and universal kings. Gathering all their merit can can produce or create one hair of Buddhist body. So, yeah.
So, hundred of these, let me say, hundreds of these pores of Buddha’s body produces one sign of Buddha’s body? Sorry. So the hundreds of these merits of heroes and universal king produces one one marks, marks of Buddha’s body. So so so then hundred of that marks the collection of a hundred The hundreds hundreds of the collections of one that marks produces one sign of Buddhist body. So a hundred thousand, I would say, of hundred thousand collection of the the sign of Buddhists produces the, what do call, the curled hair at Buddha’s forehead.
So so a hundred thousand of that quality produces the uṣṇīṣa of Buddha. So so then hundred thousand of that which produces the produces the the the call quality of Buddhist speech.