Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 32-minute session, Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen teaches listening as the best friend of practitioners in all circumstances. He illustrates with stories showing how worldly relationships shift with fortune—appearing only when there is something to gain. Dharma listening differs: it helps reliably whether we prosper, suffer, or face death. He outlines two study paths: mastery of the five major texts (Pramāna, Perfection of Wisdom, Mādhyamika, Abhidharmakośa, and Vinaya) studied in monasteries, or if not feasible, the Lamrim teachings, which distill their essence. He emphasizes practicing according to one’s capacity and stresses that authentic practice must include all parts—from guru devotion through full enlightenment.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 12 LR 1995 03 19.mp3
UUID: 3c2e3eb1-93c4-4110-850d-d71d09328e8a
Teacher: Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen
Collection: Lam Rim 1995 Jan-Dec (Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen)
Date: 1995-03-19
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 32.1 minutes
Words: ~2,303
Because of this great extensive listening to the teachings. And that also said that like, listening is our best friend. So so what our our friend of this life, when one when one is very when one is very possible, when one is very well, then you have one have many friends around. But then when one is in a in a in a very difficult situation or when one when one is in a very difficult situations, then then at that time, you see very few friends around. So then the friend that we have, the friend of listening.
Listening is our best friend. That helps us all the times, which is like when one is having some pain or when one is sick or when one is even at the very time of death. It helps greatly. It helps a lot. So so that’s why it says our best friend is what we listen.
To tell one story here, there’s one Lama named Lama. Is that that Lama is a tutor of one of the Dalai Lama? And before doing becoming a tutor of his holiness one of his holiness, he was he he did a retreat. He was a So then this Lama named Chum, he met one of his uncle somewhere. He was a businessman and met on the way close to on the way.
So in Tibet, when the businessmen travel around, they don’t have cars, but they use horses and that’s how they travel around. So this Lama and that uncle his uncle met somewhere on the way. So then, at that very time, like, the the Lama went and talked to the uncle, but uncle was he pretended that he didn’t know him. He didn’t know the Lama, and he didn’t really talk to talk to him. But then later, this Lama became a tutor of one of the Lama and then became quite famous.
So then but then at that time, when he became very famous, the uncle came to him, like, with with some offerings, like fruits and so on. So then so then meeting him, and then he told the Lama saying that I’m your uncle and gave all these many stories. This is how a friend of this life can change. What do say, it can change in different ways. So that’s how a friend of this life can be.
So then there’s another story similar to that, is there’s one very a person who is very poor. And at that when he was very poor, he had no there’s no one who who claimed that he they were their relatives. And then later when that poor person became a little rich, made some money, again, he and there was, like, many people claiming that he some were their uncles and some were their cousins and so on. So so then one day, he sort of called those who said that he said uncle and cousins. He he, like, invited all of them in and then gave some food.
And then all all the money that he has, he, like, sort of wrapped in a cloth and put on the table. And and then he said among them, he said, I have no uncles, but because of you, I’ve got many uncles. And he did prostration towards the money. So similar to that, there’s one Did she like them? It was like Abbot of Sera Je.
So like few years back, he, like, he traveled to different countries in the West for the for the for the monastery. So then when he traveled around and when he got back to Sera Monastery, there’s another Geshean named Geshe Pugha. And went to see him. He offered a khata and he sat in front of him. So so then that Abbot told to Geshe Pugha that why you’re making prostrations towards me?
You don’t have to because I don’t think you have faith in me. And then, yeah, Geshe Pugha is sort of told the others saying, I’m not prostrating to you, but to your and the to your thing, which is to your solid thing. To that, I’m prostrating, which means that I’m prostrating to your money. So so because of that, like, whatever as an while to from listening listening, that is what helps one in all the times when one needs the help. So because of that, it’s very best friend.
We should should we should like able to listen to to make ourselves listen. One should even like use ones like, what do you say, cut ones flesh and sell that and make oneself listen to the teachings, listen to different things. But this one, one doesn’t have to do. So while one is hearing something, one should listen well. So the more listening or hearing one have, one can think about things more deeply.
One can contemplate on them. And more one can also meditate on these. And out of that, out of those contemplation and meditations, one one gains the wisdoms. So if possible, then one should and if one have enough intelligence, one should listen all these five major teachings. And if not, then just listening well to the Lamrim teachings.
That is also like having extensive listening to Lamrim teachings. That also what is enough for one. Like hearing to Lamrim and putting Lamrim in one’s practice, then the practice that is set out in Lamrim is the most suited ones, which is not that very extensive, it’s not that very short. So it’s just a right amount. And depending on how extensive one have how extensive hearing one have according in the Lamrim teachings, on that level, one can put in practice.
So similar, like for example, like different animals, like horse, sheep, and different They can carry the load at which they are able to There are different size of load that they carry. And similar to that, out of our hearing, one should like out of our hearing to the teaching, one should make a practice which is suitable to one. So which is suitable to one which has is containing like from top to bottom, is from the very beginning the practice of guru devotion to the very end, which is to the very end, which is the state of fully enlightened state, fully enlightenment. So whatever one practice, it should be something which contains every part of it. From very top to the very last.
As an example, if you have in your room, if you have lots of cushions and if you don’t have a blanket, then you are missing something. You are missing something because that doesn’t help much to you. So similarly, like in the teachings, if you miss some points, then again, that doesn’t help much. So that’s like a It’s all like the benefit of hearing or listening to the teachings. And this is given here because I will be listening more teachings in the coming times.
So in the Lamrim teaching, benefit of hearing is like explaining extensively, but here we will go into more in the summary. Just mentioning it briefly. Next time, in next period, we will be teaching more how to teach the learning teachings and how to listen, how to The way how one should listen to the teachings and the way how one should teach the teachings on Lamrim. So this will be, like, in the next period. And if you have any questions, you can ask him.
You can ask if you have a question, you can ask. Yeah. Like reading the instructions of the of the of the the master. We have we have maybe reading the spiritual the instruction which are given by the masters. Reading that also is is like a form of or is it hearing?
So it’s like if you listen in it, can like There are many things that you can take and practice it. That’s like what is the Through listening what you receive, is You can pick out what is to be practiced and what is to be abandoned. So this is what you What do you say? This is what quality of hearing is. That is what hearing is.
Discrimination. So the quality, like, the understanding, hearing is like a The understanding this is good for me to practice, this is bad for me to do practice. And this side is good, that side is not good. So this understanding is what the listening thing is about. So here, today, we we would talk about listening to, if possible, to the three great texts, the three major texts.
No, sorry, the five major texts. If not, then to these Lamrim teachings, which also keeps all the essential part of those five great texts. So this is what we’ve been talking about. So that’s what we have been explaining directly, that one should listen to these five major texts and also if possible then listen to Lamrim teachings. But indirectly what it means when what what it also says is that one shouldn’t like read or listen to fictions.
Like things are the stories that are different different like, somebody just make make make up stories and written down. Like, shouldn’t, like, shouldn’t, like, use one’s time to do those things. So as one of the one someone who came to see Geshe-la last time was asking a question saying that there are there are, like, in the books, they are written something is written which is, like, if it’s beneficial, you can, like, also take the life of others or kill others. Is it is it is it right to do that? He was Geshe la was asked that kind of questions.
So so what Geshe-la told to her is that if it if it is beneficial, then you can kill. That’s what it says. Then, like, killing has no benefit. So so that’s why one should understand the meaning that there’s no benefit of killing, in killing. So then the point that one understand here is the best friend of ours is to listening, to listen to what is like listening to the teachings on bodhicitta.
These are what some of the points are. So the actual teachings on Lamrim starts from the part where it talks about the guru devotion. So from there, it starts the actual Lamrim teaching. Mhmm. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. Third one was okay. The story that was with one the Abbot of Sera Je. He traveled he came to West for the for the monastery.
He was, like, traveling around, like, asking for some donation for the monastery. And then and then when he went back the monastery, there was one was one there He came in when he was back the abbot was back to the monastery, one geshe came up, One Geshe named Geshe Puka, yeah, came up and then he he did a prostration towards him and offer him a katha. So while he was doing prostration, what is it, the abbot, he told, don’t why you are doing prostration to me? You don’t need to because you don’t have faith in me. Why you are doing prostration to me?
That’s what he told. And there was like and then the Geshe was telling him that telling the Abbot that I’m not actually prostrating to you, but I’m prostrating to your money. That’s what he he told. So this last part of the story was just more like a joke. But there was like the first two part was mainly saying that it was something it was, what do say, that the friend of this life, and there’s nothing to be trusted.
And it can change. That’s what so he was And that that’s what the meaning is in teaching. Yeah. These are like the teachings Pramāna. Second is the Paramita, which is the perfection of wisdom.
And third is Mādhyamika. And then fourth is Abhidharmakośa. And fourth, the fifth is teachings on the Vinaya. So in this, like, major text includes all the teachings, like, which is teachings and perfection vehicles. So these are like the five major texts.
These are what they study the the the monasteries, the great the three great monasteries. Like, takes like many years of study, like, to all to study all these. And and then in the in the Lamrim teachings, in the Lamrim teaching itself, taking all the essence of those teachings and made one text which is the Lamrim teachings. And that is also short and like one can like hear, like easily like hear to to the Lamrim teachings. So as last time, you shall explain that those five great texts, like, don’t have, like, all the qualities, like like, what is what is taught in the Lamrim.
Because they to understand one of those five great texts, you have to ref refer to other texts. So because like here in Lamrim text, don’t have to because it has all the qualities there. So like a the Lamrim text has like three qualities and four greatness. This is something special about Lamrim. Mid So only when there’s some teaching scheduled, especially for Lamrim teachings.
At that very time they give like the full teachings on Lamrim, but other time, no, not really. So like, for example, with Geshe-la himself, like, he started studying these five major texts when he was eighteen. And then, like, all all the time, like, until when he got the Geisha degree, he was studying the five major texts. So it’s like So somewhere like fifty two, nineteen fifty two, he he get his. So like like eighteen to fifty two.
How many years is that? Yeah.