Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 46-minute September 1995 session, Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen teaches bodhicitta—the aspiration to achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all beings. He grounds this in compassion, using a sustained metaphor of seed, water, food, and fruit to show how compassion operates at every stage of the spiritual path. He offers two methods for generating compassion: recognizing all beings as intimately close, and reflecting on the faults of self-cherishing and benefits of cherishing others. The core teaching is a step-by-step visualization: the guru inseparable from the deity, all sentient beings surrounding you, white-red-blue light purifying body-speech-mind, and all beings achieving enlightenment. He recommends daily practice and closes with supplication—requesting the guru to remain and continue benefiting all beings until the end of saṃsāra.
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File: 07 Lam Rim 1995 09 24.mp3
UUID: 83018ffa-a8f1-47fc-9e3f-169612b0c616
Teacher: Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen
Collection: Lam Rim 1995 Jan-Dec (Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen)
Date: 1995-09-24
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 45.9 minutes
Words: ~2,398
So quoting from the text known as the Sūtra Ornament. In that text it explains that the root of Mahāyāna’s teachings is compassion. And similarly, another master — like master Śāntideva — who holds all the instructions on bodhicitta. And similarly, master Atisha. And like master Atisha, he holds the two lineages — or two lineages — of instructions on bodhicitta.
And those two instructions are: one, the instructions known as the seven cause and effect. And the next one is exchanging and equalizing self with others. That instruction is also for the practice of bodhicitta. And both of these lineages come from the masters. So in both of these lineages, both of these methods, compassion is explained as the most important, and compassion is explained as most important. Similarly, like in the sutras also — it explains that compassion is the root of both these methods.
So in the many Mahāyāna sutras, compassion is explained as what do you call it — the life-supporting wind of the Mahāyāna’s teachings. Like as a human the life wind. Because all the Mahāyāna’s teachings are rooted in compassion. And that is what all the past reformers, all the past masters have explained as the same thing. So compassion being the root of Mahāyāna’s teachings is explained in sutras as well as the master Nāgārjuna — who explains compassion being the root of Mahāyāna’s teachings in many texts.
And similarly the master Candrakīrti also explains compassion as the root of Madhyamaka’s teachings. When he composed the Madhyamaka text, at the very beginning he made homage to compassion. So that compassion is — sorry — that the master Candrakīrti paid homage to compassion at the very beginning of the text. It’s that compassion is like the water for all the Madhyamaka teachings. Like the water that is needed for the seed to give its sprout. Like, at the very beginning, the water is very important for the seed. And even at the middle and even at the very end, still water is very important. So in order to have a fruit, what one needs at the very beginning is the seed, and compassion is like the seed of Madhyamaka’s path.
So then when the seed grows — even then, at that time, like for it to grow well — we need food. We need to have water and other necessary conditions. And similarly, when you are along the path — on the Madhyamaka path — to continuously be on the path which is working for the benefit of others, one needs the practice of compassion. So then compassion is also very important at the very end when one achieves the result through the practice. Because if you have compassion there at the final — at the very end — then still your achievement of that state becomes useful to others, which out of your compassion becomes very beneficial for others.
So for us, even if we are unable to generate bodhicitta within one, just being aware of compassion — the practice of compassion — is important in all times. So the compassion that we generate towards others should be not to only some, but should generate this compassion towards all sentient beings, which is the wish: how good if all sentient beings become free from the state of suffering? Having this wish towards all other sentient beings.
So the compassion or the great compassion is known as the wish to free other sentient beings from the state of suffering. It’s not easy to see others experiencing sufferings, but taking the suffering that one goes through as an example — applying that as an example and meditating on others — the compassion — like the way how one experiences sufferings, similarly others too experience sufferings. So through the experience of suffering of oneself, you meditate compassion on others.
So when one is physically and mentally healthy, then one is not experiencing at that point the manifest suffering, but still one has this contaminated body. One is still under the control of sufferings. So the contaminated happiness is known as the temporal happiness which may seem to be happiness but changes later on. It changes into suffering. So because of that, it is known as contaminated happiness.
So even the contaminated body that we have — that too has its own cause and conditions. So the cause of this contaminated body is karma and delusions. And as long as it’s produced under the power of karma and delusions, then it has the nature of suffering. So as long as we have this body, we experience sufferings. So knowing this — that you have this contaminated body and the happiness that we experience is contaminated happiness, which is known as the temporal happiness — thinking on that — that is the same for others too. And meditating on compassion, wishing all those sentient beings be free from that state of suffering.
So that compassion, again — to generate that type of compassion — you need to have its cause first, and the cause is love — the practice of love. So this love that is explained here should be generated from one of those instructions that is given before. So these two instructions are: one, recognizing all sentient beings as having been very close to one. And out of that, out of this practice, you come to generate the love known as heartwarming love. And secondly, another way — another instruction — is that you come to think of the faults of self-cherishing, all the faults of self-cherishing. And then think of the qualities of cherishing others, the benefit of cherishing others. Out of that, out of these practices, you again come to generate this love which is known as heartwarming love.
So relying on these two instructions, one comes to generate the love that is known as heartwarming love. Out of that love you generate the great compassion. And from that compassion you come to generate special insight. And then that leads to generating bodhicitta within one. And when one generates bodhicitta within one, then one is known as a bodhisattva. So even if one is unable to generate the effortless bodhicitta or the genuine bodhicitta, one should try to generate or gain some level of experience in the bodhicitta and engage in the bodhisattva deeds.
So like, the practice or the deeds of bodhisattvas are such as the practice of morality — which is the practice of morality, which is the cause for high rebirth. And secondly, the practice of Chenrezig. And that acts as a cause for future wealth. So then thirdly, the practice of patience, which becomes the cause for beautiful appearance or physical appearance.
So and similarly the practice of effort, which is putting effort to achieve the high, high birth — and one should put effort in these practices. So with the wish to engage in these actions — in these bodhisattva deeds — one should motivate here that I will listen to the teachings in order to put this into practice, these bodhisattva deeds into practice. And thinking over these different points or the instructions on bodhicitta, one will now meditate shortly. So visualize that in this space before one, one’s guru inseparable with the deity, and around one visualize all sentient beings of the six realms in the form of human beings. And then thinking: how nice if all sentient beings achieved a state of happiness. And then continue with that with a prayer: may I be able to do that — bring them into the state of happiness.
And then think or conclude it with a requesting prayer, making request to the refuge object that you visualize in the space before you — the lama which is inseparable with the deity — to bless you to be able to do that. So next, that you think that all sentient beings around one — may they be: how nice if they are free from all sufferings? And then make a request to the lama, which is inseparable with the deity, to bless one to be able to bring all of them into the state of freedom from suffering. So then conclude that with taking the full responsibility: that I will free all those sentient beings from the state of suffering.
So then next again, you make a request to the guru and the deity — the guru that is inseparable with the deity — to bless oneself, that oneself may be able to free all sentient beings from the state of suffering and lead them into the state of happiness. And through the request you made, visualize that from the body of the lama, which is inseparable from the deity, a nectar of five lights flows down, comes down. And which touches all or pervades all the sentient beings together with those around. And imagining that through the power of reliance and this natural light, all the negativities that one has accumulated through one’s body have been purified. And then secondly, from making the request and from the speech — like from the deity’s body — a red nectar of light flows down. And thinking that this very light purifies all the negativities that one and others have accumulated through their speech.
And then thirdly, again, visualize that through making the request, blue light comes out from the deity’s heart, enters into one’s mind, and purifies all the negativities that one and others have accumulated through the mind. So then again, making a request — by making a request that from the guru deity’s body, speech, and mind, a matter of light pours down, which is that of white, red, and blue altogether — and then enters into one, all these three different lights, and purifies all the negativities of our body, speech, and mind together with all other sentient beings. Then imagining that all of them have been purified.
So then finally, the refuge object that you have visualized, like, dissolves into the central figure. And then the central figure — the guru deity — also dissolves into oneself and together with all other sentient beings around. And then becomes inseparable with the mind of one. And then all of those — oneself and all of the sentient beings — reach Buddhahood. Imagining that all sentient beings are reaching Buddhahood — that is what we imagined. Not that they have actually reached Buddhahood.
But at the very beginning when one motivates, one has motivated that I listen to the teachings in order to lead all sentient beings to the enlightened state. So finally, when you do this meditation — and that you lead all sentient beings to Buddhahood, to the enlightened state — just imagining that all sentient beings are now led to the enlightened state or Buddhahood. Then by imagining this, doing these meditations has great benefits and it is very auspicious to do this. So that’s the way how one meditates, or how one should meditate. So if possible, doing this type of short meditation — like say six times a day, or if not then like once a day — then by doing this meditation just once a day, it keeps an imprint in one’s mind — the imprints of bodhicitta within one’s mind.
So also, now going to the teaching — among the seven-branch practice, we’re now on the sixth one. The sixth one is making supplication. Generally speaking, Buddha will never die, and his teaching will never disappear. But doing this practice or making this supplication is to accumulate merit for oneself.
And like, the Buddha performed these deeds of passing into nirvana and so on. But for us to request not to pass into nirvana is to accumulate merit. So, Buddha Śākyamūni — at present we cannot see him — would also have performed the process of death, would have shown us the process of death.
So when Buddha was almost facing death or going into parinirvana, at that time the other Buddhas and bodhisattvas requested Ānanda — Ānanda, one of Buddha’s disciples — to make a request not to pass into nirvana. So those Buddhas — they had achieved the vajra-like body, which is known as the four fearlessnesses, and plus the four — known as the four legs of miracles. They had achieved this. So those are known as those who have achieved the vajra-like bodies. So like Buddhas, they have achieved these qualities, which means they have achieved the body to live until the end of saṃsāra — like other, other Buddhas and bodhisattvas — have requested Ānanda to make this supplication, to not pass into parinirvana and remain here until the end of saṃsāra.
And then Ānanda didn’t make this request because — at that time, Ānanda didn’t make this request, this supplication, because he was controlled or overpowered by demons and didn’t understand what others had told him. So because of not making this supplication or requesting, Buddha performed this — I would say — passing into parinirvana when he was at the age of eighty. So for us too, it is very important to make this supplication to our own root gurus and plus the merit field that we visualize — to make this supplication or requesting prayers. So even if one doesn’t have a guru, one can make this supplication or the request.
Whatever refuge one has, or the refuge merit field that one has visualized — to request, like, to make this request every time not to pass into parinirvana. So whatever that you have visualized in this space before one — offer many thrones to those refuge objects, to those merit fields. And then make the request, and then imagine that they have accepted your request and that they will be living there — they will live until the end of saṃsāra. So it is the throne that you offer. You offer that throne, which results in the throne that the refuge merit field is sitting on. These dissolve into that throne. And similarly, if there is no guru or so on, whatever refuge you are visualizing — whatever throne that they are using — you make an offering of the throne, and which dissolves into that throne, and imagine that they accept it to live until the end of saṃsāra.