Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 46-minute session, Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen identifies the self-cherishing mind as the root of all suffering and teaches its antidote. Opening with the Eight Verses of Mind Training, he establishes that sentient beings are like wish-fulfilling jewels: cherishing them means actively working to free them from saṃsāra, which brings happiness in this life and all future lives. Drawing on Śāntideva and mind-training texts, he teaches the bodhicitta method resting on equalizing oneself with others—recognizing that all beings equally wish to avoid suffering and seek happiness. He walks practitioners through how self-cherishing causes all suffering, from illness and fear to conflict and war, and how cherishing others brings infinite benefits. Every practice—listening to teachings, reciting mantra—becomes reframed as the path to enlightenment. For practitioners with foundational Lamrim training.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 49 GP 1996 09 08.mp3
UUID: 889c4f4a-29c3-4723-b93e-58919570abc3
Teacher: Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen
Collection: Graduated Path (Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen)
Date: 1996-09-08
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 45.9 minutes
Words: ~2,305
Quoting a line from the mind training teachings known as the Eight Verses of Mind Training, where in that mind training teaching it says that sentient beings are like precious jewels, which dependent upon sentient beings, we come to collect all the virtue. In two ways, that sentient beings like precious jewels? So, how sentient beings are like the precious fulfilling jewel is that one way sentient beings are like the wish fulfilling jewel. If the wish fulfilling jewels are covered with rubbish or dirt, then it itself don’t have any power to come out from that dirt. So similar to that, sentient beings who are in saṃsāra too, say, don’t have power itself to come out from.
So, another way, if one is to take out that wish fulfilling jewel and make our prayers and requests to it, all our wishes of this life can be fulfilled by prayers and request to it. So, likewise, the wish fulfilling jewel can fulfill our wish Similar to that, if one is to cherish the sentient beings, the other sentient beings, then that is what gives us all the happiness that of this life and that of our future lives. So, with the precious, wishfulfilling jewels, it can fulfill our wishes of this very life. It can also fulfill the wish of our future life, but by cherishing other sentient beings. That is what fulfills both our wishes, that of this life and that of our future lives.
So, of these two sentient beings and wish-fulfilling jewel, we should cherish more of the sentient beings, creating virtuous activities and leaving imprints of those virtuous activities in one’s mind. So, by cherishing others, that is what brings happiness among the families, and that is what brings happiness in the community. That is what also subdues our mind. If our minds are subdued, then that is what also subdues our body. So, this is like the advice which comes from the Eight Verses mind training teaching here, like cherishing other So, this subject, we will also speak later in more detail.
So when we say cherishing other sentient beings, doesn’t mean just smiling at them? So when you say cherishing others, how we cherish others is that freeing those sentient beings who are in saṃsāra freeing those sentient beings and leading them to the state of happiness, which is those sentient beings who are in saṃsāra are under great sufferings and their wishes great happiness, but they don’t have this opportunity for happiness. Thinking that at present with oneself, one has better chance, which is having both internal and external conditions, that is the external conditions that one has attained or achieved this precious human body. Not only that, on the basis of that, one can also do some practices. That is the internal conditions.
Not only that, I’ve also met with a spiritual master who can show one the path. So, one has all these opportunities, thinking that this is the time to help those sentient beings and working towards that is how you cherish other sentient beings. So, in order to free all sentient beings from that state of suffering, at this point one is unable to do that. So, aiming all your practice, whatever you perform, thinking that I do this practice to free all sentient beings from the state of that suffering, which is whether you are listening to the teachings or whether you are explaining teachings or even just reciting a single line of mantras or Om Mani Padme Hum, aiming it for that purpose. Keeping this in mind that we generate a bodhicitta motivation and do a short meditation.
So there are two methods of training on bodhicitta, which are that of the seven cause and effect instructions, is the one and the other method which is exchanging and equalizing oneself with others, that is the second method. So the first one Geshe-la explained in the last teaching, and today Geshe-la will explain the second method. So, both these methods have its own, I want to say, lineage, separate lineage. So when you engage in this method of training our mind, that both of these starts with recognizing all sentient beings being one’s mother, and it goes all the way up to the fourth, which is meditating, contemplating love, which is the heartwarming love. And up to there, when one reach to that fourth level, the rest of the practice, which is done together, both practices are mixed together and performed.
Also in Guru Puja text and also in other Lamrim text such as Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand. It explains these two methods to practice together. Bring both these practices together, which explains the eleven points of meditations. So those eleven points, which I said, we won’t be going into detail all of those, but we’ll explain briefly on each of those eleven. So, with this second method that is exchanging and equalizing oneself with others, this method is explained under five points.
So, of these five, the first one is equaling oneself with others, equaling and exchanging oneself with others. That’s the first point. Before you do that, that practice has to be preceded by meditating on recognizing one’s mother, remembering their kindness, repaying their kindness, and meditating on love. And then one start from there. So the practice that you perform from the beginning, recognizing all beings as one’s mother, their kindness, repaying their kindness, and the later part, generating this special insight and final result of bodhicitta, there is no difference among these two methods.
So, the difference is with the heartfelt love, the contemplation on love. So, the first point which is coming from exchanging and equalizing oneself with others, that part of the explanation which comes from the Guru Puja, where we’re all equal in not wanting sufferings and wanting happiness. So, as one doesn’t even wish slightest sufferings, smallest suffering, and whatever happiness that one experience, one is never satisfied with it. So, this is being like that is same with other sentient beings too. They don’t wish even the slightest suffering and they are never satisfied with all the happiness they experience.
So, in the dreaming that we are equal, that wishing, not wishing even a slightest sufferings and never satisfying whatever happiness that we experience. So, we’re equal in that state, equal with all sentient beings. So, one should start from now on cherishing others because of this reason that they are equal to one, that one shouldn’t ignore them, but one should cherish them. So, when we’re going to the first method, is the seven cause and effect instructions when recognizing also in being one’s mother and when one remember their kainets, not only remembering the kindness when they are our mother of this life, but also remembering the kindness of our past mothers. One is contemplating the seven cause and effect instructions, at that point when one contemplates the kindness of the mothers, we only contemplate the kindness of the mother of this life.
When one is following the second method, which is exchanging and equalizing oneself with others, not only we, I would say, contemplate the kindness of this, kindness of the mother of this life, but also on top of that we contemplate the, let’s say, kindness of our mothers who are in the past. who have been our mothers. So, the kindness that we receive from this life’s mother, that we don’t need to explain. So, even when they are not our mothers, the kindness that we receive from other lifetimes, from other sentient beings are great too, which all like what we have, the body, our belongings, and the place where we live. All these come through the kindness of other sentient beings.
Happiness of this life too depends upon the kindness of other sentient beings. And all our practice too, like the practice of generosity too depends upon other beings. If there’s no sentient beings, then there’s no practice of generosity that we can do. The same with morality and same with tolerance or patience. Even the ultimate achievement, the liberation or full enlightened state, that too depends upon the kindness of other sentient beings.
So now, the actual part which is exchanging oneself with others in order to do that part of the practice, one first need I have to contemplate those faults associated with cherishing self and also the benefits which comes through by cherishing others. So, on these two points that we have to contemplate. So, those faults of cherishing self, which as it is explained in the Guru Puja, this chronic disease known as the self-cherishing mind. It’s the cause of all sufferings, all unwanted sufferings. Similarly, in the Guide to the Bodhisattva’s way of life, all the suffering in the saṃsāra comes caused by wanting happiness for self.
So Also in the mind training teaching, which the Eight Verses mind training teaching, it says blaming all to one thing, which is the self-cherishing mind, blaming to that for everything, because that is what causes all the problems or unwanted sufferings. So, how it is caused by this self-cherishing mind, such as the harm that we receive from weapons, poisons, and the nagas? So, all this harm that we receive, such as weapon poison, the harm that we receive from nagas, and also in our future life getting reborn into the lower realms, that of animal hungry ghosts and hell realms. All this is caused by this self-cherishing mind, which is because of cherishing self that one takes the life of others or one commits the act of stealing, such as the act of sexual misconduct and so on. Because of that, one experiences all these.
Similarly also, all those sickness that we experience, those great sickness that we experience too is caused by this self-cherishing mind because of this self-cherishing mind that we happen to eat different kindness of food and it causes us to have all these sicknesses. So so and and also unable to give up such as one’s own belongings, like shelters, and also holding to good reputation and unable to give that up. Holding to that goes through great sufferings, such as the fear of enemies and so on. Looking from people in the high position such as king and ministers to going through quarrels or fights and so on. This is too because of the self mind.
Similarly, of the self-cherishing mind of the king that giving punishment to the public to bringing all those problems or difficulties in the public too because of that too is because of the self-cherishing mind. And among the communities facing different problems too is because of the self-cherishing mind. And similarly having wars like other countries, two is because of this self-cherishing mind. One should contemplate in many ways these faults of self-cherishing mind. So, in short, from beginningless time up to now, going through the or causing us having all these sufferings is these two minds.
One of them is the self-cherishing mind and the other one is the self grasping mind. These are the two which causes all these. So all the problem that we are going through in this life is caused by these two minds, which is one is the self-cherishing and one is the self grasping. Similarly, all the suffering that one will experience in our future life too is caused by these two minds. So, the self grasping mind which is grasping to this ‘I’ that it’s being truly existing, and the self-cherishing mind is cherishing oneself who is unable to give up that feeling of I.
So we are left here up to now from the beginning of time. It’s because we didn’t search what causes that. If we do search for the cause, then it is these two, the self-cherishing and the self grasping. These are the two which causing all the problems. It’s important for one to see the faults of those self-cherishing mind, and staying away from that mind.
So, when you contemplate on these different faults of self-cherishing and when you come to realize these the faults of those, those are the faults of self-cherishing mind, then next step is to meditate or contemplate the benefits of cherishing others. For that, the benefit of cherishing others, Śāntideva explained in his teaching saying that all that happens in saṃsāra I would say, comes from cherishing others. And similarly, in the Guru Puja, cherishing all mothers are the doorway to happiness. And it’s also the source of infinite knowledge. So, even if all sentient beings come to us as an enemy, want you to, how do you say, cherish want you to still cherish them?
And another text of mind training, seven point mind training, where it explains that contemplating or remembering the kindness of all of this. So, all the wealth of the upper realms are caused by cherishing others? So, by cherishing others, because of that mind not engaging in this act of taking others life, so by doing that, by not coming the act of killing, that one will experience happiness in this life, and in the future life one will be reborn in the upper realms where one will have a long life. Then, to the poor one, like giving them, like practicing the generosity or giving to the poor one. By doing that, one receives wealth.
One of the texts it says that we don’t need to give a lot of explanations. It says just to look to these two like the ordinary beings by mainly working for the sake of themselves. Ordinary sentient beings mainly work for themselves, such as Buddha, have worked for the sake of others, and what kind of result that Buddha have achieved. Just check those results. So