Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 45-minute teaching, Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen guides practitioners through cultivating bodhicitta, the altruistic mind of enlightenment aimed at freeing all beings. Opening with verses from the Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life, he explains how bodhicitta transforms spiritual practice into authentic Dharma work. He teaches the seven cause-and-effect instructions: recognizing all sentient beings as one’s mother, remembering their kindness, repaying it through meditation on universal love and compassion, and developing insight until bodhicitta naturally arises. Geshe Dhawa uses vivid examples—a blind mother on the brink of a cliff—to illustrate why the greatest repayment is leading beings toward ultimate happiness and freedom from suffering. Intended for practitioners with prior Dharma training and an established teacher-student relationship.
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File: 47 GP 1996 09 01.mp3
UUID: a8f1f49b-fe6e-4ee3-a3b9-c62cc265df7b
Teacher: Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen
Collection: Graduated Path (Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen)
Date: 1996-09-01
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 45.8 minutes
Words: ~2,553
So as quoting a line from the Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life, that in those four lines, it explains the benefits of bodhisattva bodhicitta. So in those line, how it says that whoever is to generate this mind, this bodhicitta, this precious mind, are object of our object where we pay our homage to. So whoever has generated this mind, even to that person if one is to harm as an answer to our harm, they provide us happiness. They lead us towards the liberation which is the state of happiness. Yeah.
That is where it leads us to. So this bodhicitta is also known as the precious mind. Such a sprite and like a it is given this term for the precious or precious stones or the jewel. So as if we have a jewel, then that can save us from poverty. Similar to that, if one has this mind, bodhicitta, then it gives us all the happiness that of the short term and that of the long term is the ultimate happiness.
So if our practice is conjoined with this mind, then it becomes a Dharma practice, and it becomes a Buddhadharma Buddhadharma practice. So we do these different practices, such as reciting mantras, visualizing deities, and so on. But if these practices are conjoined with this mind, the precious mind, bodhicitta, then one receives great benefit out of out of that. So so this precious mind doesn’t come out of nothing. We need to collect its causes and conditions in order to generate this mind.
So we have to rely on instructions how to generate this mind. And those instructions are known as the seven cause and effect advice or instructions. And those are also another advice which is known as the equalizing and exchanging self with others. So relying on these instructions, come to generate this mind. We generate this mind for the sake of others.
To be able to generate this have to be able to generate this mind within one’s mind is trained. First we have to know how to do this, how to do this and listen to the instructions. So setting up this mind that I I listen to these instructions how to generate this mind for the sake of others and setting this mind and we do short meditations. So today, I explained the path that is followed by the greatest score or the beginning of the greatest scope. So so the the pra all the practices of the great scope, if one is to summarize, then can be summarized into these three parts, which is which is the first part, which is the bodhicitta which is known as the doorway or entrance to Mahāyāna and how the bodhicitta is, the method or the way how bodhicitta is generated.
That’s the second. And third, how it is trained, how we trained on bodhicitta. So in these three points, all the Mahāyāna teachings can be summarized. So so the the teachings on the great scope, the path that is followed by the great being on the great scope is is very, very extensive, very long. But you’re saying that we we only have two more days to go on on these teachings.
That today, this will explain briefly on the seven cause and effect instructions. That is how to generate this mind. And next week, will again the the other method, which is equalizing and exchanging oneself with others here. So the first point, which is bodhicitta, the the entrance to Mahāyānist and and its benefit which I won’t be explaining on that part. And so the second, those two methods of generating the bodhicitta, And usually when you put it in practice, it has to be, the practice has to be done together, like mixing it together and you follow the practice.
But when these instructions are explained, it has to be explained individually, separately. So according to Lamrim, it’s explained separately. So you will give a separate explanation on each of these two matters. Mhmm. So the the seven and effect instructions, which includes six six of them, which are known as the cause, and the the seventh one, the the the one one of them, which is the result or the effect.
So the first six causes which are recognizing all sentient one’s mother, and remembering their kindness and repaying their kindness, third one. And then meditating on love, and meditating on compassion, and then meditating on the special insight. And that is the six which are the cause. And then the last one which is the result, that is the bodhicitta. So, then another explanation in the great Lamrim teaching, it also explains that the compassion as the root practice.
It has these seven instructions explained like compassion being the root one, root practice or the principle. And it has four causes. That is recognizing all sentient being mother, remembering their kindness and meditating on love which produces the compassion. And then three result of then compassion, which is the special insight of bodhicitta. And then, yeah, the special insight, the bodhicitta and full enlightenment, That is the enlightenment of Buddha’s Mahāyāna enlightenment.
Sorry. So, is the explanations that comes out from the great Lamrim teachings, and it is very, I would say, very and this includes the whole path that is followed by Mahanishi. So on this point on this part, you should have said you will explain more when it comes to compassion. So so the first of the seven cause and effect instructions, the first one is recognizing being being one’s mother. So this first point, recognizing or realizing this first point, is that it’s very difficult.
In the Lamrim teaching it says it’s harder than realizing emptiness. So so this to this this understanding or or recognizing all sentient being one’s mother is explained under in the quoteachings and also mainly through logical explanations. It has to be proved. Especially those with the sharp intelligent ones. It is proved with logical explanations.
And first, at the very beginning they are proved with the logical explanation that they are the future lives. Similarly that also proves the past lives with logical explanations then comes to this point. So so like through this logical reason, one come to prove the past lives. And then, with other logical explanations that the past lives or saṃsāra having no beginning. And then that one have taken beginningless.
We have taken infinite lives in the past, birth in the past. Then as we take birth, what do say, we had our mothers. In that way, we want to collect all our mothers, then the number of our mother is much greater than the numbers of sentient beings. So so as there’s no beginning that we can find to saṃsāra. Similarly, with also which continent or which places that we have taken birth.
That too, if one is to count, then it’s also infinite places that we have taken birth. So, one point that I missed is that before meditating on this point, which is recognizing all sentient beings, one’s mother, one had to meditate on what is called the equanimity, meditation on equanimity. So, the meditation on equanimity, which is known as the immeasurable equanimity. So, this meditation on immeasurable equanimity, which is explained first meditating sentient beings who are known as strangers, who are known to us as strangers, and then meditating the ignorant equanimity towards those sentient beings who are known as our friend. And then finally, again meditating on equanimity towards those sentient beings who are known as our enemies.
And that’s one way of doing this meditation on equanimity. And there’s another way also which we do all these three at once, at one time. Among these two, meditating on equanimity, the latter one is explained in the moment. It’s more profound way of meditating. So what what meditation on equanimity doesn’t mean that, what is it, we come to recognize our friend as a friend and enemy as enemy.
So, meditating on equanimity, what we are doing is we are trying to stop the attachment and hatred, the mind of attachment and mind of hatred towards those beings. So so now go to the the next one, which is that is after recognizing as a mother, the second one is remembering their kindness. When one have this experience, the first recognizing all sentient beings as one’s mother, when one have this experience, then the second step is to remember their kindness and especially remembering the kindness that they give while they were our mothers? So so taking the example of this life mother, how how she have how much kindness that she have given to one, like, at the very beginning, in the meantime, and at the end. And dividing it into these three parts and thinking about the kindness.
And then taking this as example and thinking that it is same with our past and future mothers, that we receive kindness from them. So so one point, I guess, is saying that for some might be the the present mother might be very bad, which some like killing their own child or some giving a lot of problems. And there are many stories about a mother being humble to the child. So, this happens because of one’s suffering have accumulated the karma. So because of our own karma we experience that.
The person goes through those things not because of the mother, it’s because of the karma and it’s only one time this time that person is going through. But like, if you want to think of the past life, then there are many past lives that person becoming one’s mother and like caring or giving great kindness. So that’s how one should think. So, when one get some experience in this practice of remembering the kindness of the mother, then go to the next step, which is repaying the So so then meditating on repaying the kind kindness, it’s analogy or the example which is given in one of the teachings. Which it says, say, your mother is blind and there’s no one to lead her and she’s walking around and coming to a cliff where she’s almost falling.
At that point, if the child reaches around, then not to help the mother, then who is their other important what is their other important for their child to do? So so that is the point where the child should help the mother. So that is the example which is given. So as that example, all sentient beings are also blind or ignorant with this understanding what is what is dharma and what is not. What or what is to be adopted and what is to be ignored.
And every moment out of attachment or desire and out of wrong understanding come to commit many wrong actions. And also it is completely alone there any spiritual guide or spiritual master who can teach that beings that should do this and shouldn’t do that. So there’s no one which is completely alone. And and it’s, yeah, it’s completely, what to say, overpowered by these three poisons. That is attachment, anger, and ignorance.
And it completely become crazy with with these minds. So that that is how the situation of these sentient beings right now, with oneself, because of one’s good karma, or saying that being one’s self as fortunate, that one had met with a spiritual master. And not only that also one had met with the Dharma teachings, that of the Mahāyāna’s Dharma teachings. And one is fortunate enough also that one knows how to perform some of the practice. So thinking of these conditions that one should think one is better or more fortunate than those other sentient beings who are blind in their practice, is not knowing what to adopt and what to abandon them.
So, because of this, that is one is more fortunate. One should think that now the responsibility to save, to protect those sentient beings is completely upon me. So, same thing that in the teachings of Nāgārjuna, the text called from the friendly letter, it says that how one should think is that all sentient beings are fallen in in the ocean of saṃsāra. And one is this point have the only chance to save them. One is out there which is one the only one who can save them.
So thinking that like, taking this responsibility to save others, so that’s how one should how to meditate. So so then, like, repaying their kind kindness to, like, it is explained in other teachings saying that providing them like this temporal health such as food and shelters not the, what to say, not the not the best form of help you can give to them. It is beneficial, but it is only beneficial for the, what I call, for short terms, for temporary. So, once you think that what is better, the best way of repaying their kindness is to lead them to the state of happiness or make them experience happiness and free them from the state of sufferings. So, if one is to do this, then that is much more beneficial and it is more stable, or it’s also known as the ultimate benefit that one can give to them.
Them happiness and freeing them from all types of sufferings. That is state of That is the state of Buddhahood. So in order to do that, in order to lead them to that state, I like motivating oneself without any thought of near and far, or near and far, I engage in this practice. So when you then with that mind, if you engage in the practice, then it is what do call it? The fourth third one which is repaying the once one has the experience of that repaying the kainuids, then one goes to the next step which is meditating on love.
So this love, how we meditate is seeing all sentient being very beautiful or was it very attractive to one, attractive and and make meditating love towards them? So that loving thought towards sentient being that we need is that similar way how we have the loving thought that we have towards our own child. So if one have that kind of loving thought towards all sentient beings, then that is the fourth one. So, if one have What do you say? What do you call If one have done the formal practices, formal meditation practices such as recognizing also being one’s mother, remembering their kindness, repaying their kindness, then if one have that quite stable, then the third one, love or the loving thought comes out the force of this formal practices.
So, how we meditate this loving thought towards sentient beings is that thinking that sentient beings are lack of uncontaminated happiness. And even contaminated happiness that they experience, that they experience are also suffering, thinking that. So the contaminated suffering that they experience to have the nature of sufferings. So, when you meditate on this loving thought, which is how nice if they all have experience of happiness. It is the uncontaminated happiness.
May may all of them have this happiness. And