Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 26-minute Lamrim session, Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen teaches that we must collect the necessary conditions for our own liberation rather than rely on refuge protectors to save us without effort. He covers how virtuous actions strengthen through refuge, discusses specific purification practices (Vajrasattva and confession to the thirty-five Buddhas), and emphasizes daily discipline: analyzing and purifying negative actions as regularly as we take meals. He uses the example of medicine and doctors to show why our side of the equation matters. The session closes with reflections on impermanence, prompted by a teacher’s recent passing and Christmas.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 14 Lam Rim 1995 12 17.mp3
UUID: 71e9d015-7bfa-433e-a111-0d27dcac157c
Teacher: Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen
Collection: Lam Rim 1995 Jan-Dec (Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen)
Date: 1995-12-17
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 26.3 minutes
Words: ~1,588
So from the object side, how powerful our virtues become is that if we accumulate virtue in dependence upon the refuge object, then the virtue’s action becomes stronger. So then to its nature, again, it’s very powerful, our virtue, which if one is to engage in these virtuous actions, that is like Vajrasattva purification practice or the thirty-five confession practice to thirty-five Buddhas. Confession practice to thirty-five Buddhas. Or if one is to engage in these practices, then whatever negative action that one has accumulated on that day, through the power of this practice, it stops from increasing.
And not only it stops from increasing, it helps our virtue to become more powerful. So then if we have all these four points of practice, then that means one is applying a proper antidote towards one’s negative actions. And if one has applied, if one is to apply a proper antidote, then that is how one actually gets rid of all negative actions or, yeah, it can weaken all negative actions. So then if one is applying a proper antidote towards these negative actions, that means one is, well, one becomes the skillful one or the mastered one in purifying negative actions.
And at the same time, one accumulates the necessary causes for — so if one has been speaking, it’s very difficult to gain this precious human body again. But if one engages in these proper practices, then it becomes, it’s not difficult. It becomes easy to gain this body. So then the next point — what is it? One might — next point.
So for some there might be this doubt: even though one had accumulated negative actions and one happened to be reborn in the lower realms, one day the power of negative action will disappear, and then one will be reborn in the upper realms. Or one might get helped by the refuge protectors, and one might get helped from the lower realms. One might have these different doubts. So if one had these misconceptions — which is that the power of negative actions will diminish and I will be reborn in the upper realms, or due to the compassion of refuge protectors they will save me.
So if one has this thought arising, then one needs to think of other points to remove these. And generally speaking, like the kindness of the guru, the Buddhas, and the karma, the law of karma, do help sentient beings — like, do help sentient beings. And the general explanation is that the refuge and Buddhism, they are helping sentient beings. It is only because if the sentient being, wherever it is, follows the precepts or what is explained by the refuge. So which means that one has to have all the necessary conditions to get saved from these states.
So if — yeah. Without having these necessary conditions from the side of oneself, no one can save one. If it is true that without having the conditions from one’s own side the refuge object can save, then also we might have become enlightened a long time ago. So there are many enlightened beings who came to this world like Buddha Śākyamūni, Lama Tsongkhapa, Padmasambhava.
Those great Buddhas came to this world and they don’t have the thought of near and far towards sentient beings. And they don’t have this near and far thoughts towards sentient beings, but we are still circling in saṃsāra, because we didn’t have the necessary conditions collected here. So for example, like for some patients, those who are very ill — like, there are medicines, there are doctors and medicines. But even giving medicines and having doctors, some patients die, and that doesn’t mean there’s a shortage of doctor or medicine. And the person dies because from his or her side, there aren’t all the necessary conditions that he or she has collected.
So because of that, he or she faces death. So it’s true that they are refuge protectors. They have compassion towards sentient beings. But we’re still circling in saṃsāra because we haven’t collected all the necessary causes and conditions. So as they said in the Sūtra text, it says that there are enlightened beings coming here and giving teachings, but the beings never get ripened, because they don’t have — they’re not fortunate enough, or they don’t have all the necessary conditions.
Similar to that, an example: the day’s rain — and rain on a corpse doesn’t cause it to ripen. So from our side, we should collect the necessary conditions. So if one has collected these necessary conditions, then that means one has collected the cause for this precious human birth which has the eight qualities. Mhmm. So as it was explained before, if one is to engage in a bodhisattva’s actions, then it should be a complete virtuous action which has a good start, a good action part of the practice, and then a good ending.
So those virtuous actions, not only being done one time or two times, but try to do them every day. So as we need, like, three meals a day and a cup of tea, similarly, we should do this virtuous action in that regular manner — in the same manner as how you have your meals and things. So then one should analyse oneself and recognise those negative actions that one has done. And if you remember them, then you do the purification. And then even those negative actions that you don’t remember — as it is explained before, that out of ignorance one may have done many negative actions.
So thinking that I may have done many negative actions which I’m not aware of, and thinking of them, and doing the purification practice. So if one is to do that, which means one is collecting virtue, and the more virtue that one collects, one’s non-virtue or negative actions become weak, and the weaker they become and the more virtue one has — that means one has collected all the necessary causes and conditions for this precious human rebirth. And that means to gain this precious human body for oneself is nothing difficult. It’s easy then. So normally, generally, we shouldn’t just let oneself enjoy saṃsāra like that, but one should also think the opposite side of it, which is the negative side of it, which is what makes one able to generate total renunciation.
So if we are just enjoying and just thinking about it and enjoying being in saṃsāra, then one can only become rich mentally in one’s mind. So, yeah — there was a lama giving a teaching. Oh, super lama. Yes. The Mongolian lama was giving a teaching.
And at that time, there was a student who thought — who said, the lama has never been to China or India. And because there are many people — many many human beings, many people there — it’s not rare. So when there are many many human beings or people, but that doesn’t mean that they have all the eight qualities.
So we’ll stop here for today. And next year, this teacher said he will explain the nature and its results. The nature and its result. Yeah. The explanation will be given next year.
So during Christmas, you celebrate Christmas, and at the same time you should make good prayers. So in one way, if you look, then it says if one is living sixty years, that means one has now used one year more, and one has now lost one year, and there’s nothing to be celebrated, actually — because one is losing one year of one’s life. So one should make this good wishing prayer for the next year, that oneself and others not face sufferings, and have a healthy long life, and be able to continue one’s practice. So in the new year, they send cards, greeting cards.
It’s similar to, like, you’re sending cards telling the other person that, oh, you have lost one year — and, yeah, good wishes for that. What is that? A joke? Do you have any questions? I guess he explained that we only accumulate a lot of negative actions.
So because of that, everyone feels — I would say — shocked, or what do you call it? Depressed. Depressed. So there are no questions. So today, also, a lama passed away.
It’s a — yeah. So one thing: like, when a lama is reincarnated and when a lama passes away, this also is a teaching for us. So the day which a lama passes away shows the — the impermanence. So which is showing the nature of impermanence like that. So although we work very hard and collect a lot of wealth and possessions and so on, it has this nature of impermanence, and is just showing that too.
It has the nature of impermanence. There’s nothing to hold. So even the Christmas celebration is the birthday of Christ, which one can think of also as like a turning of the wheel of the teaching. So which is showing a teaching — giving a teaching to us — that another way, as explained before, that if one has collected all the causes and conditions for this precious rebirth, then that’s the result of that by taking another rebirth. So that’s one way of showing the teaching.
So all those special dates — when a lama passes away or is born — these are what one should interpret in that way.