Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 44-minute session, Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen explores the later branches of Guru Puja practice, moving from visualization techniques to Buddha’s nature and forms. He walks through the fifth, sixth, and seventh-branch practices, showing detailed and brief visualization methods for requesting lamas and Buddhas to remain and turn the wheel of Dharma. He then clarifies the four bodies of the Buddha — the two truth bodies and the emanation bodies — and explains why Buddha appears to pass into parinirvana as a teaching method rather than actual cessation. Students ask about the path to effortless bodhisattva motivation and foundational purification like Vajrasattva recitation. Aimed at those with prior grounding in Guru Puja.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 08 Lam Rim 1995 09 24.mp3
UUID: a981c759-879b-46b5-a16d-48e790371cf5
Teacher: Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen
Collection: Lam Rim 1995 Jan-Dec (Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen)
Date: 1995-09-24
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 43.8 minutes
Words: ~1,993
So both this one — the fifth and the sixth — the seventh-branch practice, like requesting to turn the wheel of Dharma and requesting to live until the end of saṃsāra — both of these, one has to imagine that they have accepted to do. And when you think like that, that is something auspicious. So then while you’re doing this practice, the brief short visualization practice one could do, or the also extensive, more detailed one you can do. So if one is doing a detailed visualization, then one should visualize the whole Guru Puja merit field and the rest of the Buddha fields.
And same thing: one is to emanate into many — like oneself emanating into many forms, taking many forms. And imagine each of what you have emanated from you — like those going to all those merit fields that one has visualized. So going to those Buddhas that one visualizes in the field, and oneself as the main — thinking of others around one and kneeling down and bowing down — you make the request not to pass into parinirvana. So while you’re making this request, how you should approach it — how you should do it — is thinking that the Tathagatas or the Buddhas in the field are the only ones who could show the pure path to us and other sentient beings, who are very poor in happiness and virtue. May I be able to see the body of all those Buddhas? May I be able to hear all the speech of those Buddhas? And may I and all others be able to see their bodies and hear their speech? And with this, you request them not to pass into parinirvana.
So with respect to your body, speech, and mind — like you should make this request to the refuge field — I always said, to live there in the space before one. And then through this request, imagining that oneself and others also become the disciples of those Buddhas that one has visualized in this space before one.
So then another visualization: the short form visualization is that you visualize above your crown the lama and the lama — Buddha and the rest of the bodhisattvas. And then from one’s heart, one emanates many — what is it — variegated, I want to say, golden thrones — which are supported by lions. And imagine that one is offering these thrones to those Buddhas that one has visualized above one’s crown. So by making this offering, you request them not to pass into parinirvana, and imagining that they have accepted this.
And that’s the short form. So which is that the bodies of the Buddha have the same nature as the dharmakaya. So for the pure beings — for wisdom — like for the pure beings, Buddha transforms that wisdom into the sambhogakaya form. So sambhogakaya then manifests or takes the form of nirmanakaya, which then works for the benefit of other sentient beings in a form. So which doesn’t stop its continuity.
And because of that, the two form bodies don’t cease their continuity. That condition doesn’t cease its continuity — the form body. The true wisdom body doesn’t cease its continuity. Because of that, the true form bodies don’t cease their continuity.
So as it is explained that Buddha Śākyamūni — like performing the deeds of passing into nirvana in this world — at the same time, Buddha might again be performing other deeds, one of the twelve deeds, in the other world systems — whereas like taking birth, or giving birth?
So because of this reason, the Buddha never passes into parinirvana, and his teaching will never disappear. So the reason for showing the deeds of passing into nirvana is to teach or to show to some disciples. Which if he does show that deed — which is passing into nirvana to some of those disciples — it becomes meaningful to the followers.
So then similar to that, there are periods where you hear the teachings of Buddha — the teachings of Buddha — the teachings which disappear. This too is that Buddha knows that at that period of time the sentient beings can commit the negative actions of abandoning the Dharma or similar. So not to make them commit these negative actions of abandoning Dharma — these deeds of teaching, these deeds which are teaching — come to appear to disappear. So we’ll stop here today. So in the next Sunday — so anyway, in the next coming teachings, the teacher will give teachings on the last part, which is the dedication part. And there will be a retreat in between and then a break. And then when it’s starting — the last one.
So, do any of you have any questions? So there are also many deeds which are being perfected and which are not yet being perfected. So whatever you engage in in those different deeds — you know, effort makes it perfect. Effort brings it into its perfection. Like the practice of compassion or bodhicitta or whatever — when one engages in that, the effort brings it into its — what do you call it — the perfection of that.
So one portion between this. Right? Which is known as — yes — effort, which is known as that which brings perfection. So when one comes to achieve the highest states — one of the highest states — and then whether one engages in these different practices like bodhicitta, compassion, and so on, to come into its perfection — that effort is known as the effort which is explained from the sixth perfection. So similar to that, like other actions — to complete or to perfect the action — one needs effort for that. It acts as a cause to complete whatever actions.
Questions? Sorry. The four bodies — the sambhogakaya, and then the nirmanakaya. So what do you call it? The first one then — known as the natural body.
So first we have two bodies: that is the dharmakaya and the form body, rupakaya. So there are two of the dharmakayas. So the dharmakayas are the natural truth body and the wisdom truth body. So the natural truth body is the cessation of obscurations of Buddha’s body — or the emptiness of the Buddha’s mind. So then the wisdom body is the omniscient mind of the Buddha, that which knows all phenomena — that is, both conventional and ultimate phenomena.
So then the form body or the rupakaya has two. Again, that is — the sambhogakaya — sorry — the sambhogakaya body is only perceived by the bodhisattvas. So from there what do you call — from this is emanated. So which sambhogakaya has the thirty-two major marks and sixty minor marks, which it is adorned with. So with the nirmanakaya, there are three types of nirmanakaya — what do you call — known as the nirmanakaya in the form of a craftsman — one who can make craft, like a craftsman. And then like a different rebirth nirmanakaya — two more different rebirth nirmanakayas.
And then another one known as the supreme nirmanakaya. So this nirmanakaya — the first one known as the craftsman — is emanated from the sambhogakaya form and can be in anybody. For example, here, it can be anyone — one can be that. Like, we cannot say who is Buddha or not in this room. So which is: they take this form to benefit other sentient beings. And similarly, with the different ring connections — like taking these forms, taking the form of Brahma, taking the form of Indra, and taking the form of different — even different — like taking the form of different roads, bridges, and so on. These also for the sake of other beings, they take these forms. That is the second one.
So then the supreme — that is the third one — which is like taking the form of performing the twelve deeds, like in the form of a fully ordained monk. And like performing the twelve deeds — that is known as the supreme. So short explanation on the body.
Any more questions? So any questions you would like to ask, you can ask. If you ask, then some points can get clear — can clear up. And when it’s clear, then you understand. Otherwise, what you don’t understand, you don’t. He said it’s not easy to understand.
So maybe some might feel like — let’s say — embarrassed to ask questions. And if you do that, then you want to understand but your thought won’t get cleared up. So we are here to learn something that we don’t know. And so we are here for that purpose and we should — if you don’t understand — you can ask any questions. And also, don’t think that if someone asks a certain question, one shouldn’t think they are stupid because they don’t understand. Shouldn’t think like this.
So any question you’d like to ask, you can ask, and he can explain as far as his knowledge allows.
So it’s almost what you said. What you put out, please.
So which is: a person who practices along the path — these two instructions that Geshe-la gave before — those who practice on that path for the sake of others. And then finally, when they come to achieve this effortless wish to work for the benefit of others. When they have this — when they generate this mind — this effortless mind working for the sake of others — then since from that time, that person is known as a bodhisattva. So generating that mind — the altruistic mind — one has it with effort and one has that mind effortlessly. So the one with effort is that one — like the experience — you experience the sweetness of the outer part of the sugarcane or the skin.
So then, like, bodhisattvas — for the sake of others — even they are able to give flesh from their own body. Like if it’s needed to work for the benefit of others, then bodhisattvas, they can do this. So for us, like giving our flesh, it’s quite very hard. Even like giving some money to others, it’s very painful. Like it’s pulling hair from you. That’s a joke. It’s a very good question.
So input for each is — where I’ve got — a few foundational practices like — not to — for that, if we have done some negative actions — for that negative action not to increase. So to stop its increase — to stop that negative action from increasing — one can do something simple. So if one is to completely purify those negative actions, then one needs to put some effort and energy to purify the negative actions. So not to stop it from increasing these negative actions — if one is to do the simplest way — a simple way to do — to recite and do the meditations on Vajrasattva — like every day, once every day, like reciting twenty-one times the Vajrasattva mantra — then it just stops it from increasing. So especially to do these practices. Next term, Geshe-la will be giving the permission initiation, which is a permission for this practice in the next coming term.
So if one is to do that — with having the permission initiation — the practice becomes much more powerful. And today — so if one says I want to do that, it’s good to do that practice — then it’s good to take the permission initiation too. So then if one does just one thing and it’s not that important, just to get some idea of it — then for that, you don’t need to receive these. Okay.
So we do the dedication on page five, numbers eight and nine.