Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 46-minute teaching, Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen explores the medium scope of the Graduated Path by focusing on delusions as the true enemy. He traces six causes of delusions — from how attachment arises through involvement with objects to how wrong views can emerge when spiritual practice brings suffering — and details three grave harms: corrupting the mind toward non-virtue, weakening moral discipline, and leading to rebirth in lower realms. The centerpiece is a stark contrast: ordinary enemies may eventually become allies, but the closer we approach our inner delusions, the greater the harm. Geshe-la shows how moral discipline across all three vows becomes the direct antidote, then addresses a nuanced student question about self-cherishing and the subtle delusions that persist even in accomplished practitioners.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 34 GP 1996 07 07.mp3
UUID: 6d43e34f-9016-4225-be0b-f7ba018d82b8
Teacher: Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen
Collection: Graduated Path (Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen)
Date: 1996-07-07
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 45.8 minutes
Words: ~2,400
Involved or engaging with delusions. So so getting involved with the object of attachment or or or those object of other delusions or getting engaged with these objects of delusions then can cause one to generate delusions. So such as, for example, a cloth that we are wearing, say like thinking how good it is, how suitable it is, and how good material it is. And this way, if you think getting involved, your your mind get involved into into this that causes attachment towards the object. So and then suggest anger or hatred.
Whatever object we get angry towards or we generate hatred. When we are angry, at that state when you look to that object, to us it appears like an angry object or object that we hate. And when we are in a peaceful state of mind, when we look at that object, it doesn’t cause us to generate this state of delusions or anger or hatred. So so like such as the object of anger that one again builds up these different thoughts in our mind saying that that person did something wrong to me and will retaliate that, like thinking over this state in this different way. Like I’ll do something back to that person all those times that you felt that to retaliate the person not only causes negative karma for yourself but also that causes negative karma for others which causes which disturbs others and disturbs others.
So, if this all happens, then that causes the unhappiness among one another. So, yeah. So, it’s important for us as we should apply antidotes towards these delusions. So so then next is like the wrong views, which is which say if someone is following spiritual teaching, following or doing the Dharma practice or following some other religious practice and suddenly that person goes through a lot of problems such as getting sick and facing different problems, then suddenly that might cause for one to generate the wrong view. I’m following on this path and because of one getting sick and facing different problem, one thinks that the karma doesn’t work, the law of karma doesn’t work and so on that causes one to generate this wrong view.
So so if this happens, then it means that the the delusions again one is accumulating different instead of delusions. So when delusions are accumulated, then what one can do is we’re applying antidote and get rid of those delusions. But if one lives there without applying any antidotes, then it builds up or becomes bigger and bigger where then the karma becomes strong And then where one have to experience the result of those karmic actions. So these are the six causes of delusions. And so if one happened to generate one of these, if one happened to generate the delusions within one and they are again in the sūtra ornament, the text which explains the false or the disadvantage of having delusions.
There are few few disadvantages of having delusions. So if one have delusions, then that destroys one, destroys sentient beings, and destroys one one’s morality or moral discipline? So how it destroys one is that as soon as the delusion arises in one, one’s mind is led towards negative actions. So which as soon as the delusion arises within one, then that leads leads one’s mind into non virtuous state of mind where then whatever one is doing, whether one is doing some practice or any, whether one is doing some work, or whatever one is doing, leads towards negative actions. So, when our mind is in the non virtuous state, then that again stabilizes the negative imprints that we have left in our mind.
And causes us to generate attachment and hatred. So and then that causes one to, like, to act or to do natural misdeeds or naturally wrong actions. And by doing or by engaging in these that causes one to again cause us more one collects more delusions. So, and causes, collects the cause of unhappiness for this life and the future life. And if only have collected these causes, then one becomes distant from liberation.
So so and and it it also weakens one from performing the virtuous actions. So in this way, that’s how it destroys one another. Then next is like destroying, destroys moralities or the moral discipline. So, when delusions increase, then delusions are what is known as the opposite side of moral discipline. So when increases, then the morality or the moral discipline somehow decreases.
So when our moralities are weakened, then it it also causes us to have little fame and, what is it, property. And and it also one is I wanna say, looks down or criticized by the by protectors and Buddhas? So so and then delusions again causes us to have anger attachment and so on. And and then that causes, like, the problem within one and others. So all these all these all these are caused by by, I wanna say, delusions.
So so so because of having these delusions, again, in one’s future life one is reborn in a place where there’s no how to say, barbaric land where the where you have you hear no words of Buddhist teachings. So so when these delusions arises, we should see them being the real enemy and try to stop them from rising or generating. So as in the guided way of Bodhisattva’s life, in that text, it says that humans and God, can be our enemies which are enemies that can cause something or cause us some harm this life. Cannot, like, I would say, lead us to to the in our next life. So so but then our enemies such as the delusions is what what causes or or brings harm to us to this life, not only to this life but also it causes us it brings us harm in our future life which leads us to the lower realms.
The real enemy our real enemy is the is the is the delusions, not the enemy that we usually think with the with this with ordinary enemies, the more we became close to, the more we became friend with the ordinary enemies, it comes to help one too. Becomes our friend. And it gives less harm. The closer we get it what to say, it gives us help or it gives us help. But the enemy known as the delusions, but the closer we get, the more more harm that we receive.
So so as the katama masters explains or give us advice saying that with the delusions, we should should When are among many people and if you are trying to show that you are strong and can fight with that person, like physically showing that you can do something. Physically showing your big shoulders around. So with the, what do call, with the delusions, that is what you should do. So so that so to the sentient being, you show the palm of your hand and try to be, what is it, beneficial as as much as possible. So so as, like, among among the kids, they’re all together.
They they boss around each other, which push one end to side and that side. So so that causes, again, what do say, the fight. So which is like with the enemy of our delusions, we should we should, what is it, pass ourselves with the enemy of delusions. Passing like a fight or like a being, what is it, bully or whatever you call it, among the delusions of without delusions. And with sentient beings, should, like when we meet our friends or any stranger, when we first meet such as, what do you call, you welcome them, give a hug, yeah, give a hug and you show your heart to the other person.
So in that way, you hold the same thing. Oh. Showing your heart to to to sentient beings and and benefit as much as possible. So this shows that also the practice of bodhisattva bodhicitta. So instead of that, if we to to show our heart to the delusions, then it’s not good.
So, in the medium scope where this different state of delusions have been explained and different causes of delusions. What causes these different state of delusions, and the false or the disadvantage of having these delusions. Mhmm. And how the, what is it, how or to say, delusions or the karma is created. So all these are explained in the medium scope and also that of the twelve links of dependent arising.
And the twelve links of dependent arising has been explained in the past. So Geshe-la said he won’t be explaining that. So so then continued the main practice of the medium scope, which is known as the the three higher trainings. And the three higher trainings of those three, second and the third, the training on concentration and the training on wisdom, which will be explained in the the in the great scope. So so in the medium scope, what I say, what the main part of the practice that we should get involved in is the practice of morality or the training on morality.
So so with the with the, like, training on morality, not only that all these three morality or three trainings in morality which will be explained, that of Bodhisattva vows, and the tantric vows. All these will yeah. All these will be explained. So so as in the teaching, says that in order to to achieve in order to achieve a human birth in our future, we need to do these practices such as on the basis of keeping pure moral discipline or morality, we should make pure good wishing prayers. So these when we say on the basis on the basis of pure moral moral discipline or morality, which explains which includes all the these three types of, say, vows that comes from these all these three types of vows.
That is the individual liberation vows and bodhisattva and the tantric vows. So so on the basis of pure moral discipline, pure moral discipline which means involves all the three vows. And again, like to achieve highest state, you need to practice moral disciplines which in that sense, like just keeping purely one of the vows such as killing can become the cause for our higher state or become a cause for our higher. So so then stop today and next next week, Krishna, yeah, we’ll start the teachings on grade school. Yeah.
So we stop. So the The question was what is the difference between the afflicted self-cherishing and non self-cherishing. So is saying that with self-cherishing mind, even those arhats such as those arhats have self-cherishing mind which is, yeah, self-cherishing mind because of that they stay in meditation on that state of peace for all those times. So the arhats, Hīnayāna arhats, when they come to achieve their nirvana, they stay in meditations on that peaceful state for many events, for many years. So, staying there for many humans stops one from, what do say, working for the sake of others.
So because of that that to the to those within them, they have this self-cherishing mind. So so in the Abhidharmakośa of Vasubandhu text, it explains So in Abhidharmakośa text, it explains the darkness which is referring to delusions. Delusions which are explained of two kinds. One that is afflictive and one which is not. So, the darkness that is afflicted and darkness which is not afflicted, so which is the darkness referring to delusions.
So, within the Hīnayāna Arhats, they have abandoned the darkness which has been afflicted. The darkness which is afflicted, which has been abandoned, but they haven’t abandoned the darkness which is not afflicted yet. So so for arhats, for for arhats, they don’t have afflicted delusions. Afflicted delusions. But and the afflicted delusions are which is caused by delusions.
Such as that is the self-cherishing mind of the self-cherishing mind of the and the other So, the arhats, they said they have the power of clairvoyance. They have achieved this great power of clairvoyance. But such as Maudgalyayāna, Chuyat achieved that state of Arhat. And his mother died and she was reborn in one of the hell. But through his clairvoyance, the Maudgalyayāna didn’t see didn’t saw that.
So so, again, there was one it was a householders who who were supposed to become, take the ordinations. But to take the ordinations the arhats didn’t see any virtue with that person. They didn’t see any virtue. So they didn’t let the household to become monk or take ordination. So so then later, the household went to Buddha to the Buddha, and Buddha saw he has all let’s say, little amount of virtue that he have collected Oh.
And and let him take the. So so not knowing this, like, that those are virtue of that person, but which too is, what is it, nonafflicted self-cherishing. All the virtue that one performs becomes antidote towards delusions. So antidote is like an actual antidote and a general antidote. So olive oil juice become a general antidote towards towards, what’s it, the diligence.
So if you practice giving, then it becomes a direct antidote for, what is it, which is, I would call, antidote for miserliness. So so generally, all virtue becomes an antidote towards, what is it, delusions. And then direct antidote is that you you those direct antidotes such as like hot and cold. Like if one applies specific antidotes then the, which decreases the other side. So, it has to be direct opposite of that.
So both of you, what you said, like practicing giving also becomes and the prostrations, the thirty five Buddhas reciting names too becomes. So if you explain, like, according to the Hīnayāna school, that they don’t that’s they don’t like enter into Mahāyāna. So, but according to Mahāyāna’s explanations, that the Hīnayāna they have to go through the Mayan’s trainings, which they have to achieve the full enlightenment state. So so when the sitting in meditation on that peaceful state, Tathāgata appears and cause or awakes awaking them, telling and tells them saying, you haven’t still achieved fully enlightened state and making them arise from their meditation.