Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen teaches the refuge practice from the Lamrim as a hands-on visualization, not just concept. In this 31-minute session, he establishes the mental foundation—recognizing the pervasiveness of suffering in saṃsāra and cultivating deep faith—then guides students through the core visualization: imagining all sentient beings around you in human form while nectar light rays flow from gurus and enlightened lineages, purifying negativities accumulated against Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. He covers the dissolution of the refuge field back into yourself and all beings. In the Q&A that follows, he clarifies how practitioners from different traditions can adapt the practice. Suitable for those beginning formal refuge and those deepening an established practice.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 12 LR 1995 04 30.mp3
UUID: b9065142-1aea-40f2-88e7-86a21803bda5
Teacher: Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen
Collection: Lam Rim 1995 Jan-Dec (Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen)
Date: 1995-04-30
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 31.2 minutes
Words: ~1,942
So, like, the general suffering of saṃsāra, just all the all all all the problems that we we face is is, like, general suffering of saṃsāra? So as example, the body that we have this morning is not the body that we have right now. So so, like, changes it changes every minute that they’re like sometime, like, it changes like from from a healthy body to to a unhealthy. So it changes. Sometimes you are healthy, sometimes you are not.
So so then, like, other, like, sufferings, for example, if you look into the world, like, for human beings, the sufferings of birth, aging, and death. So and then suffering of getting getting separated from your friends. And meeting with meeting with with enemies. And then, like, suffering of not finding what you wish. So so in short, like, place you go to is a place of sufferings.
Any any anyone you met, it becomes your enemy. So so in the same way that if you think over the sufferings of hell, hungry ghosts, animals, the gods. Then when you think over these different suffering, then you you you wish to become free from those states of suffering. So so that is, like, knowing the causes of like, knowing these all these sufferings of us lower realms and saṃsāra in general, is the first cause. So then second cause is that you need the faith or the trust in in the in the refuge refuge that you have visualized in front of you that they have the complete full power.
So, it’s a saying of one great master that like if the sun rays strike a snow mountain, then it won’t melt. The snows won’t melt. In the same way, if strong faith doesn’t if one doesn’t have a strong faith or trust in the the in those in those four bodies of the Buddhas or the or the guru, then there’s no way one can receive the melting of blessings of those gurus. So in order to receive the blessings from blessings from from the gurus, one needs a strong faith. So that’s the So this is, like, sort of the common, I would say, cause of refuge.
So so then for the for Mahāyānist who who has to have three causes. So so then for for a Mahāyānist, one should one should oneself and not only oneself, but oneself together with all other sentient beings having the fear of those lower realms and the saṃsāra. Mhmm. Suffering of lower realms and the saṃsāra? And then secondly, that having faith in in in the in the refuge field that one had visualized in the in front of one.
And then and then on top of that, one need the great compassion that unable to bear sentient beings suffering. So if one have this, then one will one will receive a pure Mahāyāna refuge. So so now so how should one go refuge is that one should visualize, like, all those sentient beings all the sentient beings in the aspect of human beings, like all the the beings of the hell and so on and and so on, all in the form of human beings. And, like, being they’re all around one, and one, like, leads the prayer, the prayer, and then chant. So so then while one is reciting the refuge prayer, thinking that nectar of light rays comes from the refuge objects that one have visualized.
And that that nectar is like a strikes to oneself and all the sentient beings are on one. And and removes all the negativities that one one have accumulated in relation to the gurus. And then all having been purified, and then again in the form of various light rays. These five different light rays. We receive all the qualities of body, speech, and mind of the of the gurus.
So so then then you recite these prayers again saying I go for refuge to the Buddha. So so while you are reciting the prayer I go for refuge to the Buddha, like the five colored nectars flow down and strikes one and all other sentient beings around and purifies all the negativities that one have accumulated in relation to the Buddha. So especially like in those, I want you to think if one had done like selling and buying statues, doing a statue business, then if I have done these negative actions, then one should just very thing on those that all those negative actions. So so then the next line which we do, repeat the prayer saying I go to Dharma. Then at that time, we visualize, yes, we have explained last time saying that all the all the teachings of those those in the form of volumes, which is, like, also visualized in the merit field.
Oh. So from the volumes or the text from there, again, like, nectars of light rays flow down. So then, and the nectars strike oneself and others and purifies the negativities that one accumulated in relation to the Dharma. And especially like abandoning Dharma and so on. So so then when one does the third line, which is I go refuge in the Sangha, then again, same thing like from the refuge objects, light rays pours down and then that strikes all one’s and all the sentient beings and purifies all the negativities and and especially the negativities that one have accumulated in relation to the Sangha.
So there are many negativities that or negativities that one accumulates in relation to the Sangha. But but the the like, not I mean, in in west, it’s not we’ll have less less. So as as we as we help the Sangha a lot. So so that like, say, if one helps the ceremonies, like, giving ten dollar ten dollar a month. And if you So so if you change on the monk, like, say, instead of one, you do do the other one.
If you change, then there’s a negativities that you a negative that you commit negativity that you commit. So so once if one had accepted to do, then once you just stick to one, if you change back and forth, then it’s if you change one to another one, then that’s a negative actions. But or one is like, if one stops, they want you to stop. So with the with the Sangha, there are two two kinds. Like, one with the ordinary and the the Ārya Sanghas.
So so, like, Ārya Sanghas are those I mean, like, one ārya is known as one a Sangha. Mhmm. So so the ordinary Sanghas are, like, if there are four ordinary Sangha, then that’s one Sangha. Oh, today that today is So so because of just explaining this because there are some people who helping the monks there. So same thing like if you first help some of the Sangha or the monks and then if you change that same thing to another another person like one of the students in the in the school then that again has a negative action.
So same thing with another thing like that. If one is, like, spending a hundred dollar in one month for for a Sangha. And then if one cuts back, like you’re saying, I will only expend fifty now and use the fifty after a few months. If you think that and if you do that, that also we accumulate negative action there too. And then and then the same thing like another negative action that we accumulate is that, like, in other words, dividing Sanghas like going to one monastery and telling what they are doing and then going to another one and then telling what they have done.
So dividing or bringing problems among the Sanghas. That is one of the heavy negative action. So then after taking the refuge, then once you dissolve all the refuge objects, all of those refuge objects that one had visualized, dissolved back to the main figure, the Buddha Śākyamūni at the center. And then Buddha Śākyamūni also dissolved to oneself and all the other sentient beings around one. So so So when the refuge dissolves into one, refuge dissolves into one and other other sentient beings, that time, once you think now, we one and all of sentient beings are enlightened.
So so at that time, one should think as one have motivated at the beginning that one have let now all the sentient being into the. So as, like, leading we stop here with this with this thought that now one self and all other sentient beings are in the state of have been in the state of. Mhmm. Yeah. Talk to me.
And here we do some question answering. Yeah. So you can ask same question you like. Yeah. And the five five thrones.
Mhmm. Mhmm. So there are, like, there are five thrones, and the and the central the main and the central throne of the five, like one the Buddha Śākyamūni. In the aspect of Buddha Śākyamūni, but having the nature of one’s own guru. So then on the right throne of Buddha Śākyamūni.
This one throne which is where Maitreya Buddha is. The main figure of Maitreya Buddha who holds the extensive lineage. And then on the left side of Buddha, on the left side of Buddha, that is Mañjuśrī. It’s Mañjuśrī, the main figure. And that is the profound lineage’s master.
So then on the back side of the Buddha, there’s another throne which is the main figure. There is Buddha vajradhara and the rest masters are known as the the bliss lineage masters. So then in front throne, the front throne of Buddha Śākyamūni is one’s own root guru, root guru and the rest are gurus. We have the root guru who have given the most kind to one. So these are known as the five gurus who are having the same nature.
But but having different aspect for to benefit the trainees or the beings. Yeah. And it? Yeah. Mhmm.
So there are like some texts that the Sanskrit letters which are visualized. Some texts, For example, in Tibetan, they visualize the Tibetan letters. And and here in the text, it explains the Tibetan letter. But I guess it was saying that there was one master, like, one of the what do say? Mongolian master was was asked the same question and he said that if you don’t know, like, whether should we visualize a Tibetan letter or or Mongolian letter?
Then Mongolian master said, it’s okay. If you don’t know the Tibetan, then you can visualize the Mongolian letter. So if you don’t know the Tibetan, then it’s okay to do the Sanskrit. So so any, like, one need to, like, get the renunciation, and then you can visualize in any any letter, like Sanskrit, Tibetan, or English or yeah. Yeah.
Good. That’s cool. Yeah. Mhmm. Yeah.
So the body that we have, if you look at its cause, then its its cause is the delusions. And because it has a cause of delusions, it is contaminated. Because it is produced by delusion. And the continue like, the continuation of this body is known as the saṃsāra. Oh.
So when one become free from saṃsāra, that means one is free from So so when one when one become free from Samsāra, that means one is free from one is free from being circled again by the by karmic imprints. Yeah. Yeah. No. Yeah.
So we do the dedication. Page number five. The first number eight.