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 guides practitioners through the mind-training practices that transform self-centeredness into compassion and bodhicitta. He begins by establishing why cherishing others is essential, then teaches the foundational contemplations: recognizing the faults of self-cherishing and the benefits of cherishing others. He moves to exchanging oneself with others, then to Tonglen (giving and taking), with detailed visualizations—taking suffering as black light through the nostrils, dissolving it into the self-cherishing mind at the heart, then sending happiness to others. For those finding Tonglen difficult, he offers a progressive path: begin with one’s own future suffering, then extend to parents, strangers, and enemies. He concludes by placing these practices within the eleven points of meditation from equanimity to bodhicitta. For serious practitioners familiar with the Lamrim framework.
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File: 50 GP 1996 09 08.mp3
UUID: 43cdc3d5-43b0-4bfc-acbc-9001a3f1e69e
Teacher: Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen
Collection: Graduated Path (Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen)
Date: 1996-09-08
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 45.7 minutes
Words: ~2,467
This general way of looking at this world, are sentient beings. There are like billions of sentient beings in the world. Of all those sentient beings, the human beings, in one way is the worst type of sentient beings. Such as those animals like tigers, lions, and so on, takes the life of others, but mainly to fill their stomach, and they don’t kill or they don’t take others’ life like human beings do. So, for human beings, for their own sake or for the sake of their close one.
They take the life of others, such as killing many animals for their meat, selling those meat. Such as, for example, butchers and so on, like catching the fish the fish itself in the ocean or in the sea doesn’t do any harm to anyone else, but the fishermen catch them and take their life. In that way humans act. In one way of looking, human beings have this wicked nature or bad nature which is worse than like cannibals. So so now what we should address?
So is this mind, like, cherishing others? Is it is it possible? Then, yes, it is possible. So, as an example, if we have a good farm, if we could plant something, then you know that one will have good crops. Then the farmer will take care of the farm because he will have good crops.
To that, if one knows this mind, like cherishing others, is the cause of our present happiness and our future happiness, then one should cherish that mind of cherishing others. So sentient beings are ordered to be cherished because all all what we have, the food, shelter, clothing, and even the temporal happiness such as the ultimate happiness depends on So so even like we are meeting with the teachings of Buddha and here able to perform some practices. And later through our practice we come to generate bodhicitta and gradually achieve the full enlightened state. Half of this is through the kindness of one’s guru and half of that is through the kindness of other sentient beings. So, contemplating on these two point, like the first part, the faults of cherishing self, and the second part which is the benefit of cherishing others.
And then move to second next step, which is contemplating on the thought, changing oneself with others. So when we say changing or exchanging oneself with others, doesn’t mean we we, like, physically change? And what we need to what we change is the is the thoughts that we change. Changing oneself with others, the thoughts which in the previous time one had cherished oneself and ignored others. Now, by contemplating these faults of cherishing oneself and the benefit of cherishing others, now exchanging, stopping these two thoughts instead of cherishing oneself and cherishing others is what exchanging oneself with others.
Ignoring this mind of cherishing itself and instead of that cherishing, like bringing the mind cherishing others. Ignoring oneself or renouncing these different things which renouncing one’s relatives, close ones, and ignoring oneself doesn’t mean that you don’t think about them. Doesn’t mean in that way. So, when we say ignoring oneself, is shouldn’t bring harm to others for one’s one profit and for the profit of close ones. Also, when we say giving of the wealth of this life, which is food, clothe, shelter, doesn’t mean you should never collect them.
So what it means is that in order to help one’s future life, should work towards those things. So, if one is to perform in that way, then it is a dharmic way of doing. So, short, we do our practices and even when we are doing our job, like certain work, shouldn’t do those works which are harmful to one’s future lives. So, other than that, anything that is helpful one should do. So then, this point when exchanging oneself with others, when one become familiar with this practice.
Then, we’ll go to the next step, which is Tonglen practice, that is the giving and taking practice, meditation practice. So, at this point that we are performing both these methods, these two methods together. As this practice of Tonglen is to strengthen our practice of compassion and our practice of love. So, by strengthening our practice of love and training the practice of giving, then by strengthening our practice of compassion and training the practice of taking. So, these two practices like taking and giving, to start first with taking and then next to the practice of giving.
But some Lamrim teachings it also says that first to do the giving and then taking too. So, like, when if you start, like, taking taking as a first, which is like taking all the sufferings of others to oneself and making them completely free of sufferings, their mental continuum free of sufferings, and then send them or give them the happiness. So that too, like taking, which is strengthening the practice of compassion and wishing to free those sentient beings from that state of sufferings. Wishing to take all the sufferings of other beings to oneself. That is like imagining all the suffering of other sentient beings taking in the form of black light and imagining that it goes through the pores of the body.
The self-cherishing mind, which is, suppose to say, it’s located in the center of the heart, thinking that all those like light, the suffering of others, also dissolve into that self-cherishing mind. So, again, generally taking those sufferings of all beings, which is sufferings of the hell, such as the cold hell and hot hell, and the suffering of hungry ghosts, of animals, human gods, all this suffering, taking it in the form of black light and imagining it going through one’s nostrils and goes in and then dissolves into the heart, which is the heart, dissolve into the self-cherishing mind, is located at the heart. So, when you perform that practice, then one should think afterwards that all those sentient beings now are completely free of that type of whatever type of suffering that they are going through and in the state of happiness. So, as the different trainees, for some, this practice of giving and taking or Tonglen practice is, for some it’s very difficult that they are unable to perform this practice. For those who are unable to do this practice of taking and giving, they are also again advised first to start taking upon oneself first.
So, which is taking one’s one’s suffering. That is, there are sufferings that one will experience in this evening or there are sufferings that one will experience in tomorrow or there are sufferings that one will experience in one’s future lives. So taking those suffering that one will experience in the later time upon oneself. So then once one is familiar with that practice of taking one’s one’s suffering, go further which is taking the sufferings of one’s parents, the close ones, and the suffering of the strangers, and also the sufferings of the enemies. And that way you train.
So that’s the way, like, once you train. Otherwise, for some, it’s not, let’s say, they won’t wish to take the sufferings of the enemy right from the beginning. So, when one is taking the sufferings, then not just when one takes in the form of black light and takes it in, not just thinking that it disappeared, the suffering disappeared there. Not just thinking that it disappeared there, but taking it through one’s nostrils and going in and dissolving it into this self-cherishing mind. And then thinking that other beings have happiness.
So, when one is taking the sufferings, sometimes one goes to some fear or one gets terrified. And when one experience this, it’s a good sign. So when we say taking other sufferings, like if one is very familiar with the practice, then for some it is possible to actually take the other’s sufferings. So for us, even if unable to take the suffering like a real actual suffering from others, just bring this visualization to Bring this visualization, clear visualizations help us to collect a great amount of merit. So, doing the visualization clearly.
So, when one becomes familiar with this practice of taking, then we go to next step, which is giving or sending. So then, first strengthening one’s practice of love and then transforming one’s own virtue, whatever virtue or happiness that one have in the form of wish fulfilling jewels. And then sending or giving that to others. So, giving to others, which is whatever needs the other have, whatever kind of needs the other have, whatever things they need, like giving in that form, like sending in that form to the others. So, for example, like thinking of giving to those beings of the hell realms, those are the hot beings of the hot hell, like transforming one’s own virtue in the form of cooling nature such as water or cold air and so on.
And those beings in the cold hell, again transforming one’s body into warmth and sending them warmth. Then similarly with the gurus and the Buddhas, we transform our body into offering objects and send them or offer them. So and then thinking after offering, like, to have, let’s say, to to have his deeds, to have long lasting deeds of the guru. So the virtue that we can give is all the virtue of the three times that we can give them. So when one is giving body and wealth, then we can only give the body of present, body and wealth of present and also that of the future, but not of the past.
So because the past life’s body and wealth are not anymore there. It’s yeah. So, by the virtue that we can still, how to say, give, which is those virtues of the past that we have dedicated for the achievement of fully enlightened state. So the virtues are still there, so one can still offer or give. So, a brief explanation on these, like exchanging oneself with others, which started with equalizing oneself with others.
And then second step which contemplating the faults of cherishing self. The next one is contemplating the benefits of cherishing others. And then the actual part of exchanging self with others, and then finally, that of the practice of giving and taking the So, when one perform all these practices, giving all our virtue, wealth and body to others, and taking all their sufferings to oneself, the sufferings of others into oneself. We will perform this practice, if one is to check again, check that whether one has actually did that or just did it mentally, then we have performed that only mentally. So when one comes to know that it is just performed mentally, that one has performed actually.
So at that point when we come to know that, then that’s the point where one then generates this special insight. So this special insight is not only wishing other beings to be free from suffering and wishing them to have happiness, but actually engaging in such an action to free all sentient beings from the state of sufferings and to lead them to the state of happiness. So so then after that, the next is that to lead also into the full enlightened state, generating this mind which is the bodhicitta. So, about eleven points of meditations, which comes together in the combination of these two methods. That is the seven cause and effect instructions and the second one which is exchanging and equalizing one slope with others.
So those eleven points, first one is meditation on equanimity. That is the The equanimity is like the basis of the rest eleven. And then after that is recognizing also in one’s mother, remembering their kindness. And then the special remembering their kindness. Repaying their kindness.
And then equaling oneself with others. And then, next is that contemplating the faults of cherishing self in many aspects. And then next is that again, contemplating the benefits of cherishing others in many different aspects. So then, after that is the practice of taking, which is strengthening the practice of compassion, and then taking the sufferings. So then next is meditating on love, which is strengthening one’s meditation on love and performing the practice of giving.
And then after that is generating this special insight, which is taking the responsibility for the sake of others. And then next is the actual bodhicitta. And total of eleven. So I will do this much, and if you have any questions, you can ask. It’s a good sign because it’s a sign that one have trained one’s mind.
So, which if a fear arises at that point when one is performing that practice, then it shows that one is following the instructions. It’s a sign that one has followed correctly the instructions. You can only say that much. It’s a short question and short answer. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. Sorry. I’m sorry. Uh-huh.
So, reason taking those other suffering to one’s end, imagining it dissolving into self mind is the purpose is to destroy that self-cherishing mind. So, like, when taking the sickness of others, one can take the sickness of others upon oneself too. Similarly, if oneself is going through some kind of sickness. At that time, what do you say, changing bad circumstances into path, Which is like that’s the line which oneself thinking those paths, those circumstances, going through sicknesses, like serving it as a practice. Also at that point taking others sickness and imagining that one is taking others’ suffering, whoever is going through the same kind of suffering like one.
So if one is going through some sickness, then thinking that if one thinks about those pain and suffering, then it’s more suffering than one is going through and more suffering than one experience. Instead, if one is to think that it is because of my karma that I’m going through these sufferings, using that adverse circumstances as a sickness. Also serving to take others’ suffering at that point, like thinking if others are suffering, going through the same kind of sufferings, then experiencing my own suffering, may I serve the others to others that they don’t have to suffer and taking others’ suffering upon oneself. So, for some, like, let’s say, if they are doing, performing some Dharma practice and have done, performed Dharma practice, but suddenly if they are to face some illness and go through some difficult periods, then that person might think that I do Dharma practice but it’s not helping me. So then if these things happen, might cause one to lose one’s belief in the practice.