Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 45-minute teaching, Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen reframes a troubling experience for many meditators: why those practicing bodhicitta and emptiness sometimes face sudden illness or hardship. Far from indicating failure, he explains, such suffering shows that negative karma is ripening in this very life—sparing greater suffering in future rebirths. He then teaches the four powers of purification (reliance, repentance, non-repetition, and antidotes), explaining how karma imprints the subtle mind and when those imprints can be removed through practice. The core of the session covers daily practice: setting morning motivation, mindful work, evening checking of actions, and purification through Vajrasattva recitation or the thirty-five Buddhas, with recognizable signs that purification is working. Extended Q&A addresses practicing in shared spaces and communicating skillfully with non-Buddhist family members. For serious Lamrim practitioners.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 14 LR 1995 08 27.mp3
UUID: cc950ee7-f633-405f-9c54-7c751bc93da5
Teacher: Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen
Collection: Lam Rim 1995 Jan-Dec (Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen)
Date: 1995-08-27
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 45.0 minutes
Words: ~2,554
Very successful and also very long. So that being — even engaging in the action of killing and doing negative actions — that person having a longer life and being successful is not the result of those actions. And similar to that, many practitioners who meditate on emptiness, bodhicitta, and so on, face a lot of problems, and they become less successful. So those are the signs that through the power of meditating on bodhicitta, for example, through the power of that, if there is some negative action that one is going to experience in that person’s future life, then by doing these practices, somehow the negative action ripens in that very life and one goes through less suffering. And for example, like the master Dromtönpa — in his later life he had a leprosy disease.
Similar to that, if we get these kinds of sicknesses in this very life, then one should think that one is experiencing negative karmas that one would have been experiencing in our future, and should feel happy to experience those results of those negative actions in this very life. So then the purification practice — how we do it is that we engage in the practice of the four powers. So the four powers are known as the power of reliance. And then second is the power of repentance. And then third is the power not to repeat that action anymore.
And then next is the power of antidotes. If these four are present, then any negativity can be purified. So the power of reliance — there are many different explanations. But as Lama Tsongkhapa explained it, it is the refuge objects. So as the example is given, if we fall down on the ground, lying on the ground, we have to get up.
So whatever negative action that we create, we accumulate, is in reliance upon the refuge or reliance upon sentient beings — from any side we come to wrong directions. Like taking refuge and generating bodhicitta is the power of reliance. So these two, like bodhicitta and taking refuge. So if one has the second power, that is the power of repentance — and if one has that, then one generates the resolve not to do the actions anymore.
So whatever negative actions that one has done from the past up to now, you think, you contemplate all of those and then think that one is never going to repeat those negative actions — that is the second power. So in order to generate the second power, one needs to know the law of karma. So with karma, Geshe-la has explained many times in the past also — Geshe-la was saying that in those actions, for example the action of killing — the preparations and the actual act and the completion, these are involved in the action of killing. So the preparation at the beginning is the object of killing, whatever it is — one shouldn’t be mistaken about this.
So and then you need the intention or the motivation, which is the intention and the recognition. So the intention is the wish to kill. So then the action is using the weapons and killing. And then the completion is when one kills the person and when the other one dies — then that is the completion.
So from the second moment of that action, the second moment becomes the karmic imprint. So in the tantric teachings, the mind has many levels — there is the very subtle mind as explained in tantra. On that we leave the imprints, which is like writing on a paper. So in tantra, the imprints are not kept on the grosser mind, because when one dies, the grosser mind stops functioning.
So what goes to the next life is the very subtle mind. So in the sūtra teachings, the two minds which I also explained — there is the mind of this very life, or the mind that comes from the past to present and goes to future. So the mind of this very life stops at the end of this life. But the mind that comes from past to present, present to future, goes to future — on that mind I would say the imprints are kept. And that is the mind which finally goes to the enlightened state.
So before those imprints meet with the conditions, one can remove those imprints by applying the antidotes like the purification practice. So another example: if there are three people here and all three have taken a poison. Among the three, one dies and one is still very sick and one is still well and not sick. So the one who is dead has already met all the conditions and nothing can be done. So the one who is being sick — that person has met with the conditions and the result of the poison is ripening. So the third person, who is still well and not sick — if he or she needs to find some means, they will definitely get sick and then die.
So then the third person tries all different means — going to a doctor and taking medicine or removing the poisons. And then he or she thinks that in the future they will never again take the poison. So similar to that, we have all accumulated different karmas. And what we need now to do is reflect over your actions and not to repeat the action anymore.
This is what we need to do. So first contemplating all your actions — whatever negative action you have done, remember those actions, being mindful of those actions, and then feel regret over your actions and not to repeat that again anymore. By doing this purification practice, it is good for one. So this practice — not being like one time or two times, but should be done continuously. And every time before you go to work, one should set up a good motivation.
And if one has time, then do some recitation of mantras — like Vajrasattva or other mantras — and then also dedicate those merits that you accumulate out of those practices. So then when you come back after work, do like ten to fifteen minutes of practice. And check or contemplate what virtuous actions you have done on this day, and what negative actions you have done on that day. So if you have committed more negative actions, then do purification practice related to Vajrasattva — like the meditation and recitation of Vajrasattva mantras, or doing the confession to the thirty-five Buddhas by reciting their names and doing prostrations. So not only one day you do this, but if you continue every day, day by day, then even if you don’t purify completely from its root, by doing this practice you stop the negative action from increasing.
So then finally, end your practice with rejoicing and dedicating — all the virtue that you have done on that day, and also the merit that you accumulated out of purification practice, plus the virtuous actions of oneself and others and all the virtues of the Buddhas of the three times. You dedicate towards self-liberation or for the sake of others. So if one is to do like this, then the rest of the practice — like practice on bodhicitta, practice on emptiness — can fit in also very well. And out of that, if you go to sleep, then you will have what we call a positive sleep. And we did practice — if one falls asleep with that, with that practice, one will fall asleep. Then your sleep also becomes positive. So if you sleep with that in mind, your sleep becomes positive, and also because of the practice you might have positive dreams. And when you get up and wake up in the morning, you feel happy or have had good dreams. So these are some positive things.
It’s not only speaking about negative things. So then the next Sunday, Geshe-la will be explaining how to do the purification practice related to Vajrasattva — reciting the mantras and doing the meditation. And similar to that, the next is how you do the purification practice relating to the thirty-five Buddhas. So we’ll stop here today and it may be good to do some question and answer. So the signs — those who are doing the practice — are like having dreams of taking a shower, or climbing uphill, or riding quite fast, or something quiet. So these dreams are regarded as signs of being purified. Only when you are engaging in the practice — not every dream, not every time. But if you are engaging in the purification practice, then if you dream this, it means that your practice is working.
And similarly when you’re doing other practices, if you have these dreams, it means that your practice is working well. She was saying the first thing is to say — because she just came from India — so Geshe-la said it’s something very auspicious that she came from India. She arrived here, and now Geshe-la has explained about the signs of being purified.
Maybe it’s a sign that you have met Rinpoche, Khenpo Rinpoche, and met Dalai Lama and so on. Plus visiting many holy places might be a sign of being purified. Any other questions?
So in the very beginning you have to set up the motivations, but then when you are engaging in the actual practice, at that time you concentrate on the actual practice, because these two cannot come at once to our mind. The motivation is leading us to that action. Similar to this: if you want to go to a restaurant, then the first thing is you need the motivation — oh, I need to go to a restaurant. And then after you have this thought, after you have the motivation, then later you go to the restaurant. Then while you are in the restaurant, you don’t think that I need to go to a restaurant.
So whatever it is you are actually engaging in, the first thing is setting up the motivation — I am going to engage in this action, or whatever. So any motivation that we have should be one of the three motivations: the motivation of small scope, or the motivation of medium scope, or the great scope. It should be one of these three motivations.
So the reason we need one of these three motivations is to bring about working for the future, not for the purpose of this very life. For example, we plant rice and other grains for this very life — planting rice is something of which you enjoy the result at one time. But if you plant fruit trees and so on, then not only one time, but you can enjoy the fruit for many years. Similar to that, thinking that in order to receive benefits for many lives, setting up the motivation helps one.
So like, a virtuous action — to do a virtuous action doesn’t mean that one has to sit in a meditation posture. One can do meditation in many different ways: while one is walking, while one is standing, while one is working, while one is lying down.
So like the first power — the power of reliance that we talked about. And when we do that, we have to visualize the refuge object. And usually you don’t have to verbally say it, but think about your negative actions. If you wish, it can also be done in front of a fully ordained monk — one can explain, verbally confess the negative actions. And these two have the same effect — thinking over it and verbally speaking in front of someone.
So whoever is in front of whom one confesses the negative actions — the person should be a more superior person, like a guru or someone. Like a fully ordained monk or nun. So in front of that person, one should explain what wrong action one has done. One shouldn’t have any thought to hide anything. One should clearly confess.
Sorry. If you like, if you try to do some… tolerance… I didn’t get the last part.
So it was good to actually let you know — I didn’t get it. Like, if you do something good — if you want to make it something worthwhile that brings, like, a cause of discipline to others — and then what happens, or what do you want to know there?
So as long as the person who is doing the practice has a good motivation and is doing a good practice, then whatever the other person does, how the other person reacts, doesn’t matter. It’s the other person reacting out of his or her own conceptions, different conceptions. So at that time, when you see disappointment in others — when you know that it is because of their own conceptions — it happens to them. And it’s not that one just leaves it at that, but if possible then one meditates again on love and compassion towards them.
So for example, if it’s another case like one is doing a Buddhist practice and the other person is not following the same practice, then if one sits in full meditation posture and tries to do meditation, that sometimes disturbs the other person. Then if you know that it’s going to disturb the other person, then at that stage, sitting in the full meditation posture is not important.
You can, because meditation is more done with the mind — it’s more a mental thing. So at that time, you can just lie down in front of the person and meditate. So if you lie down and still meditate, you can meditate, but then the other person might not think anything — while you are lying down, they think you’re having a good nap.
And once you don’t show externally that I’m doing a practice or show any external signs — it’s also good that whatever the other person is following, whatever belief the other person follows, the good thing is to say good qualities about that practice. It helps the other person. So in your deep inside, one does one’s own practice. And to please others, one can explain or say the good qualities of whatever he or she believes in.
So instead of doing that — if you were to say what I believe is the best, such and such — if you explain in that way, then as you see in the world, the problems among the religions, that’s how it happened. So same thing with couples. One should always explain the positive side. You’re doing good work. You’re working hard. You’re doing this and that. If you explain in that way, then that doesn’t bring unhappiness or angry thoughts in the other person. It’s a means of how you help others. That even if your friend or partner is saying something wrong or mistaken, in the beginning you can say, oh, that’s right. But then later, you can explain, now, oh, this is how it is. Am I telling lies? So if we walk like that, then that is how you bring closer the hearts.