Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. Using vivid concrete examples—a nail being worked free, a bird caught on the ground, an earth-filled bag dropped to the earth—Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen teaches the eight human sufferings as the gateway to genuine renunciation. In this 45-minute Graduated Path session, he guides practitioners from small-scope practice (impermanence, karma, precious human birth) toward the medium scope: understanding how the contaminated body itself is the source of suffering. He systematically covers birth (suffering in the womb, forgotten by ignorance), aging (loss of beauty, strength, faculties), sickness (loss of vitality), death (separation from all we cherish), separation from loved ones, meeting with unwanted circumstances, and the pervasive suffering of the five aggregates under karma and delusion. Throughout, he emphasizes that recognizing these sufferings—not as abstract doctrine but as one’s own future experience—generates the determination needed for liberation. For practitioners already grounded in Lamrim.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 27 GP 1996 06 16.mp3
UUID: 459aea12-2ff2-46e2-a0e2-f889220aa347
Teacher: Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen
Collection: Graduated Path (Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen)
Date: 1996-06-16
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 45.7 minutes
Words: ~2,501
As a quoting from the teachings of Lama Tsongkhapa, as just quoted few lines, where in those lines shows the teachings or the practice which is performed by the medium scope. So in in these four lines, how explains the practice of medium scope is that shouldn’t just satisfied with the practice of a smaller scope. But in the small scope, do meditation practice on impermanence and death, the on karma, and and also the precious human birth. So not probably getting satisfied with these practices. So not being fully content with with with just with the practice of small scope, but but then like knowing or coming to understanding the source of that coming to know this, trying to trying to understand this contaminated body being the source or or the cause of all types of sufferings.
So understanding that this contaminated body is, I would say, doorway or the source of all types of sufferings. And and also under come coming to understanding or understanding that all things are untrustworthy. And and and through this understanding, seeking for or say seeking for liberation or try to generate the thought of renunciation? So contemplating over the faults of the contaminated body and also the faults of all saṃsāra things. And with contemplating on these and then generating the thought of renunciation.
So to generate the total renunciation, like, first one had to one had to see the folds of of the saṃsāra pleasure or the saṃsāra prosperities. On this, we have to see the faults of those things. And but at this point, what we see is that saṃsāra pleasure and the prosperity of saṃsāra something something happiness or, you know, something happiness. So seeing the faults of saṃsāra saṃsāra pleasure and also the prosperity of saṃsāra, next step, we want to come to generate the thought of renunciation, and then that is what leads one to the liberation. So in order to achieve this liberation for the sake of others, in order to liberate others, First, oneself had to be liberated, and oneself had to contemplate the sufferings of saṃsāra saṃsāra.
So so setting up this mind that I listen to this teaching in order to free myself from saṃsāra in order to benefit others, setting this type of motivation, and we do short meditation. So in the last teaching, we give you the is explaining the general sufferings of saṃsāra. So so today, this level of explain the particular sufferings of saṃsāra that is of the sufferings of lower realms and that that of the sufferings of the upper realms. So the suffering of the lower realms, which is already been explained in the small doing the teaching on the small scope. So so I just wanna explain here again.
And with the sufferings of the upper realms, there are also two that are humans and god. So today, I will explain the sufferings of humans. So in in this great Lamrim teaching, they it explains these different types of sufferings. Like one, eight set of sufferings, one six types of sufferings, and then three types of sufferings. So and then that is what is explained in the great Lamrim teaching.
But then in the liberation on the BAM of your hand, that and that teaching, it only, like, it only explains not, like, think only numbers are the seven types of which is sufferings. Seven types of sufferings. And not as a eight numbers. So so those eight on the side, the suffering of birth, aging, sickness, and death, and mandala oblong. And then suffering of getting separated from from, let me say, desired object, a beautiful object.
Yeah. And then next suffering of meeting with with unwanted object or ugly objects. And then on top of that, sufferings of the five aggregates. So total of eight. So so if these are all known as the human sufferings, and human sufferings are included within this aid.
So the reason why we need to explain or understand suffering here is especially for dharma practitioners, those who seeking liberations. Before seeking liberation, they had to generate the thought of renunciation. So in order to generate the thought of renunciation, these sufferings have been explained. And that’s the what is the purpose of explaining on sufferings. So the upper states such as human and gods, these are little better than that of the lower lower states, but still one is under the control of karma and delusion.
So so as as in our own experience, we have achieved this precious human rebirth which free from all these eight unfortunate states. Though one is free from these states, while one is living, one goes through lots of sufferings. And and just just recognizing or or pulling out these sufferings that we go through by knowing these different types of suffering helps one generate the thought of renunciation? So the first type of suffering, that is the suffering of birth, is that we have experienced this suffering in our past, but then we don’t remember these. And and we we’re also definitely going to experience these in the future.
So, sorry, the suffering of birth, which the period sorry. The period that one takes conception into mother’s womb two, the time when one is coming out from mother’s womb, coming outside. During this duration of the time between there is where one experiences the suffering of birth. So so though we have experienced these sufferings in the past, but we don’t remember these sufferings, that is because one has been, how would say, one doesn’t remember these sufferings because one has been say, scared or scared or greeted by the by the pollution of the home. Yeah.
So we enter in between the drops, the blood and the sperm. And this is known as the, how to say, these two substances are known as thirty substances or thirty where we enter our, we decide in between there and these two coming together. So these two coming together, they give this obscurations or pollution which then that is what causes us not to remember these states of sufferings. So so then after entering into into mother’s womb, when these different stages of development forms, like the forming of five and so on. During this stage of development, there are great sufferings that we go through and, sorry, it’s like saying that in the teachings, it explains great detail all all these type of sufferings, but you won’t go in detail because it just takes a lot of time.
So so then after that, when when the day when one comes out outside, though one is kept on a very smooth cloth or on a smooth surface, but the child or the baby like, experience great sufferings, like, they’ve been putting, like, left on top of, what do say, rough surface like thorns and so on. It goes through great sufferings. So all these sufferings, not thinking or contemplating that someone went through these type of sufferings, but thinking oneself that will or contemplating these self sufferings, like thinking oneself in the future will go through this type of suffering, like contemplating upon oneself. So and then the next type of softens is the suffering of aging. Yeah.
So, this second type of cell phone, the aging, which starts, you know, or the process of aging starts right second moment after one is born. From that point starts the process of aging. But this, we don’t we don’t see it as getting age like, getting old or aging. So, in the sutras, it explains that aging makes one, makes one ugly, which is if one have beautiful form or body appearance. By aging, aging makes it ugly.
And also aging which weakens or declines our strength and the power. So and also aging. Aging also weakens or declines our faculties or senses. And also, it declines or weakens our enjoyment towards objects, a different object. And also aging take Sorry.
Aging also takes our life here. Or still our life. So aging to which shortens our life also. And these, I wanna say, are the sufferings of aging. So to this explains explains here something which when when you, what is it, pull out the pull out a a nail on the which is put in on the ground.
To pull it out, you first have to, like, move it. And then that’s one, like, one example which, was to take out that nail, one has to move it back and forth. And then secondly, when someone is about to catch a bird like a sort of like crawling on the ground and, you know, trying to catch a bird. So so then another another one example which is given is that if we have a bag full of earth and if you let it go, then it just drops down on the earth. So if these three type of signs happens to one, if these three type of signs appears to one, then it’s a sign like, it shows that give it any two months.
It’s yeah. It shows that one is aging. So so then, like, external externally, like, when one is young, one have no, you know, it’s a wrinkles. But then later time, one will one will have input. And then and then the internal, like, the flesh and the and the the blood.
What do say? Getting less and less that that causes one to have all this see all the bumps, bones on your parts of your body. And then in the meantime, on also becomes, what do say, deaf, stupid, and what do you say, blind. When this when this appears, then this also means that we are aging. So so these signs when, like, when we look to an old person, then we see all these signs like very shaky when they’re walking and so on, all this when they’re picking something like the hand shaking.
These we see, but we don’t see it it coming up on our So these these all these things happen happen happened or happening is because because of of the faults of saṃsāra or getting born getting reborn in saṃsāra, like under the control of karma and delusions. So so that as long as as one is in saṃsāra under the control of common delusions, it’s only a matter of time, but sooner or later, one one will also experience this sign or this process of aging. So, at present, we are healthy. We have strong, what do say, physically we are strong and our mind is very clear or intelligent. So one should engage in one’s practice and do as best as possible, as good as possible.
And later when one have these signs of aging, then our mind and all becomes weak or then becomes, so to say, difficult for one to do these practices. So, you know, like the Kadampa masters, they they said they said that the sign of aging comes slowly part by part or slowly, which if it happen, if it to come all at once, then we won’t be able to take it or yeah, we won’t be able to bear it. So on on this suffering suffering and aging, she must have had this much So then next type of suffering, which is the suffering of sickness. So, the suffering of sickness, for example, in the sutras, it says that in the wintertime when there’s snow, then the snow or the coldness which then, what do say, dries up or dries up all the trees, which let all the leaves drop and, yeah, and all all the plants that, let’s say, dries up and So so then as as that as an example, similarly, when when a sneak when when a sickness strikes to one, then that also takes our, what do say, complexions and, what do say, our own glory.
It it takes it away. Yeah. And and also the sickness one makes one lose, like, lose appetite even if some food is in front that won’t have feel like eating. So so then an adult sickness also makes one forced to do some things which such as things which one doesn’t want to eat, such as these different medicine, such as sweet or bitter or anything in order to cure the sickness. One is forced to take that.
And then because of the sickness can also take your life because of the illness or the sickness. So in this way, like many, what’s it, mental sufferings that one one goes through too. So so as as you see, even even though the strongest person in the world is that if he or she is struck by sickness, then he or she will drop his bed and plus we’ll also lose his or her strength. So so then going to next type of suffering, that is the suffering of death, which which also quoting from the sūtra teachings, which it says that when death strikes one, then one to, one has this great suffering of getting separated from one’s very desired things such as desire objects such as one’s very close friends or the close ones. And, also, one have to leave behind all the or one has to be separated from one is separated from the world that one have collected from from from very little when I was when I was child.
And also one is separated from the close ones. And then also one is separated from the very, very close friends, such as one doesn’t want to even be separated for the period of drinking a cup of tea. And so he’s not saying that as we all know the sufferings of death, he said he won’t give more explanation on this. So then the fifth one, fifth type of suffering, which is getting separated from from desire object or beautiful objects. Yeah.
So this desired object or the beautiful object, which are one’s friends, the close ones, one’s one Lama, and so on. These are One’s like Lama friends and parents. And there those are was a very close friends, boyfriend or girlfriend. And also those of one to one states such as the fame and and reputation and so on, like, getting separated from these. So, as we experience these sufferings, such as like getting separated from one’s parents and so on, these are, what do say, it’s nothing, what do you say, It’s nothing, let’s say, special that’s happening in Samsāra.
So so it’s as long as one one one is born in saṃsāra, these are what we are about to experience. Has the nature of saṃsāra. So, all these, what to say, is is what saṃsāra is or what the the which saṃsāra has here. And then the next type of is meeting with suffering or meeting with unwanted object or other objects.