Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 46-minute teaching on Nāgārjuna’s Letter to a King, Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen explains why the human body is precious for spiritual practice: it possesses four fundamental qualities—favorable conditions, reliance on realized teachers, mental and physical wellbeing, and the karmic causes to seek Dharma. He then pivots to the urgent question: why practice now? Through discussing death’s inevitability and radical uncertainty, he shows how the fragility of life should awaken us from postponement. Rather than demanding total renunciation, Geshe offers practical guidance: integrate small practices—prostrations, meditation, or ethical restraints—into daily life. He illustrates with a Sera Monastery story about a teacher and student’s endlessly deferred picnic, ending in a funeral procession. Beginning anywhere, with anything, matters more than waiting for perfect conditions.
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File: 02 LtK no date.mp3
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Teacher: Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen
Collection: Letter to a King (Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen)
Date: 1984 (exact day not recorded)
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 45.9 minutes
Words: ~4,894
To think from the point of view of the path of the lesser vehicles or the spiritual vehicles of the smaller persons, we have to — or one has to — consider the importance and the reality of the achievement of our human body. Mhmm. The reasons why spiritual traditions emphasise a lot of importance upon the achievement of this present human body is because this very existence of human body has got all the fundamental qualities or the fundamental prerequisites to practise those teachings of the lesser vehicles, as well as the teachings of Mahāyāna or the higher vehicles. Mhmm. Those fundamental prerequisites to practise the spirituality or the teaching or the doctrines are technically called — how to say? — the four sets of qualities. Four sets of qualities.
So now, in accordance with these present topics, the author Acharya — sorry, Acharya Nāgārjuna — is now telling the king that you must develop an awareness of the importance of your own body or your own existence as a human being. So the first quality, the first fundamental quality, is that living in the place where in the past lots of people, through putting the teaching into practice, achieved a lot of higher spiritual qualities such as Buddhahood or arahantship and so forth. So Acharya was telling the king that you are qualified from that point of view to practise Dharma or doctrines or spirituality. This means the real interpretation of this is that we are living in such a place where we have a lot of favourable or supportive conditions, such as someone guiding us, or such as a place where lots of such things have already happened.
It is to make us understand that in actual fact or in reality, we must feel we are so equipped to practise spirituality. Mhmm. The second quality is technically termed as relying upon the holy persons or the holy beings. So it means that whatever the doctrines, or whatever the holy techniques that we are applying in order to cut the main root of the problems, or the main root which breeds all the problems or all other difficulties — that technique or that teaching was originally given by the person who is called Buddha, and who wasn’t Buddha or who wasn’t what he is now from the beginning, really. Rather, he was also similar, or he was exactly like one of us. However, he developed his own understanding, and he got rid of his delusions and so forth. Thus, he became a Buddha. So therefore, we are depending on such a teaching that which was originally taught by a person like Buddha.
He wasn’t Buddha from the beginning. Rather, he was exactly like a sentient being, and he tried, so he achieved — he got his reward. As to get the side meaning of this quality, is that if we are following such a hard path which was taught by some persons who claim themselves to be primordially Buddha, or primordially one who has abandoned all the negativity, all the bad qualities — so then it is very hard for us followers to follow what he said and achieve what sort of state or what sort of quality he has got himself, because his qualities were not produced through hard work because he had already got it as his primordial nature. So the third fundamental quality is that which we possess — not only that we have a sound interest in learning or in studying or in practising the Buddhism or the doctrines or spirituality — but also, on top of that, not only that, we are also well equipped through having a perfect physical condition, physical and verbal and mental condition. So if we have a sound urge and desire to learn or practise, if we are mentally and physically somewhat out of balance, then it’s very difficult to make the things materialise, but we are not like that. Rather, on the contrary, we are well equipped — mentally, verbally, physically. So now the next thing is that we have got the proper and entire conditions to practise Dharma or whatever, as the outcome of having done the proper or the right action in the past. Yeah.
The author was trying to make the king aware of his hidden treasure — or the hidden treasure of his being — the existence of being a human being. So he was now — Acharya was saying, was telling to him, that now you have got all the conditions conducive to practising Dharma. Yeah. The main message to be taken or to be understood from this statement about the importance and the reality of the human body is that after realising the importance and the reality of this human body, what we have to do is we have to make the right use of this achievement or attainment. The reason of making the right use of this body — of the human rebirth — is because upon this body, one can do, or one can make almost everything come true, such as if one wishes to achieve Buddhahood or higher states or higher levels of understanding, one can — or if one wishes to have a similar rebirth as a human being in the next many lifetimes, then one has the right opportunity or right chance to create that sort of cause for achieving whatever one wishes for.
Therefore, this is the right opportunity. Therefore, as we understand, when we get the opportunity, we shouldn’t miss it. Mhmm. I think. What we have to do is now we have to take the essence of — or make the right use of — this present achievement.
So in that similar sense, the author was asking or requesting the king to take, or to make the right use of, his body. So this is exactly the same as one of the statements of the Supplement to the Middle Way or Madhyamaka philosophy, which says that while having the right opportunity to create the right cause, if one misses it, then once one has taken rebirth in the lower existence, the wish or the possibility of getting out of, or the possibility of release from, those sorts of unfortunate destinies is almost out of the question. So it says that at this present time, due to our right merits or the right actions that we have done or created in the past, we have achieved this present human body which is endowed with all sorts of qualities and the conditioning conducive to practising Dharma. So if we are not realising the importance of this body and if we let this chance go out of our hands, then when we die we will definitely take — or we will definitely get reborn in — those lower realms or lower forms where we haven’t got even a one moment of understanding or discernment, where we will be able to think to do something right, something worthwhile — and doing something worthwhile is the cause of achieving the higher states.
Mhmm. At this time, we have got the right opportunity and freedom, independence. So upon having such independence and freedom, if you don’t try and if you don’t do it, then let’s say if we get reborn like animals — then you can imagine yourself whether they have any right understanding of doing something worthwhile. Absolutely. Yeah.
So no doubt that we have achieved or we have attained the human body which is well equipped with all the conditions, all the necessary facility, conditions, dispositions, temperament — required to practise Dharma. Therefore, after having listened to or after having heard the advertisement of this human body, what we have to do is we have to take the right essence, or we have to make the right use of it. So making right use of this body should not be postponed to some other time. Rather, we have to get into the business straight away or right away. Whatever.
The reason that we have to stop postponing the undertaking of making right use of this body straight away is because there are a few reasons to be considered. First of all, as our physical organism comes to the end, we meet with death. So death is the eventuality of this body which we cannot possibly avoid. So that’s one reason. And the next reason is that the time of that death is uncertain.
We never know when this death will strike. So death is the inevitable, and death is the end of everybody. You see? There’s no escape from death. And we can think from a few points, such as a country or the place.
There’s no such country which is death-proof. There’s no such place which guarantees that the dweller of that place won’t die. So even if one lives in America or whichever place or country one may live, that is undoubtedly not death-proof. So and yeah — the time.
Whichever the time or whichever the age that one may belong — ancient time, present time, future time, whatever — it doesn’t still make oneself free from the eventuality of death. From the point of view of the present body, we still have to die. There’s no such body that we can achieve where we don’t have to die. Okay. Thank you.
Thank you. Therefore, death is the end of everybody, and the time of death is also uncertain. We never know when it’s going to come. The time of death is completely uncertain, and nobody can predict that one will die at this time or that time. So the time of death hasn’t got any systematic pattern.
So let’s say if we knew that I will die at this and that time, it’s a little bit better. So it doesn’t sort of work out as a matter of age, you know. If we say that whoever is older dies first, then it means that among these people, I believe I am the oldest one, so I have to die first, then whoever comes next to me has to die second, and that way. So in that way, maybe you can have some kind of hope that, oh, I will live a little bit longer than them.
But however, it doesn’t work in that way. See, there are lots of infants who die. The little baby who has just been born also dies on the spot, and similar to all groups of age, they die anytime. So that shows there’s no certain time that death will come — this time or that time.
So it can strike you anytime. Yeah. Out of the people here, I mean, you and myself — we are at the moment talking or discussing, you’re listening, I’m talking. And we don’t know who will die first or who will go first.
If we were absolutely sure about who is going to die first, then I’m pretty sure that whoever that person may be would freak out straight away. So luckily, we don’t know that. Of the main factors contributing to making the stance of the uncertainty of the time of death firm — there are lots of dying conditions. We have lots of unfavourable conditions internally and externally. As you can see yourself, there are thousands and thousands of things that can take your life, which can kill you.
And you can see there are dangers from animals. There’s danger from — I mean — so many things. People creating bombs and things like that. So if you think from that point of view, you have more chance of meeting one of those external things which can take your life. And from the point of view of internal things, we can have a lot of diseases and a lot of sickness, a lot of pains.
There are something like four hundred types of disease or so, you know, which can also take your life or our life. So from that point of view, yeah. Yeah. That’s right. And when we look at what our body is made of, that is also one reason — how much chance we have to fight against death or to fight against those unfavourable conditions.
See, if our body were made of metallic things, then it would be alright, but it’s not. It’s made of very fragile things, made of very fragile things. We have got different nadis or veins and made of flesh and so forth. So as you understand yourself, taking a wrong diet — a simple wrong diet can kill you.
Or a little sort of vein — you know? Or maybe the flow of wind or air within the body — you know — or the wrong flow of air in the body or in the veins — can also take your life or our life. So when we think from that point of view, the chance of the survival of this present body is so slim. That’s the reality of it.
The point is that the time of living is also running out constantly. So since we are born, we don’t know how long a life we have got or what is the lifespan of us. So whatever the quota of your life may be, since — or right from the beginning, or right from when the baby is born — the baby, he or she, is running out of his or her time because he or she is going closer and closer towards the ending point of one’s life. So you cannot possibly stop this motion of running out of the lifespan. So it is running out by a minute, time, months, years, and in that way it is constantly going nearer to the complete exhaustion of one’s life.
The supposed conditions of surviving or making us alive or keeping us alive can also become the cause of our death. You see — the eating, the foods and drinks, doing exercise, jogging and so forth is supposed to be keeping us fit and alive. Whereas sometimes, due to a slight mistake in that, it can kill us. And we take — how to say it? — medicine. Medicines are also supposed to be a cause of keeping us alive or keeping us fit, but sometimes due to a small mistake, they can also kill us. We go to the bathroom to wash, but whereas we slip over and bang our head, things like that. So it can also become the cause of death. So that is also one point to think — there’s no certain time that we can predict that we are going to die. Yeah.
So when we think or consider from all these factors, we can become pretty convinced that we have virtually no sort of control over this body. So the point that we have to take by understanding this fact is that we must not postpone the time of our practice. If we knew absolutely sure that I will be dead by this time, or I will die at this and that time, then obviously you can map out or you can make an agenda of your life — I will not do this in my work, and this and that — then maybe you can put the practising of the Dharma at the very end. But however, you are not so sure when you are going to die.
So if you made a mistake and put things at the very end, and you die before that, then it’s too bad. Yeah. It didn’t come with you. So I might tell you a little story about this. It would be very interesting.
Sera Monastery is near — is in central Tibet, the capital of Tibet, Lhasa. So the rich people, when they die, have a very fancy way of carrying their dead body to the graves or to the cemetery or whatever. So they use some fancy things, and lots of big processions, things like that. So in the Sera Monastery, there were a teacher and a student. So the teacher was always promising his students saying that if you’re very good, I’ll take you for a very good picnic.
Yeah? I’ll take you to a big picnic. So the student used to say, when are we going to the picnic? The teacher used to say, when we finish all the things we have to do. So after a few days, the student asked, now when are we going to the picnic?
The teacher again said, oh, don’t worry. We will go when we finish everything we have to do. So in that way, it keeps going on and on. And obviously, the things which he had to do never finished. So one day, a big procession was happening.
You know? Some big person had obviously died. So they are taking him out with so many fancy things and things like that. So then the teacher asked his student, what’s happening down there? He said, I think whoever it was, they finished everything they had to do and now they’re going for a big picnic.
So therefore, the postponement of doing Dharma is really not a good idea. So now what we have to do, by understanding the importance of this — by understanding or realising what sort of wonderful thing that we can achieve through making right use of this body — and also the uncertainty of death and also the reality of this body — is that now we must start doing something worthwhile straight away. So doing something worthwhile straight away does not mean or does not demand that we give up everything what we are doing now. So what we have to do is we must try to integrate, or we must try to fit some sort of Dharma things into our day-to-day life. Maybe if you find a little bit more relaxed or more comfortable when you make the prostrations, then you can start doing a little bit of prostrations.
Or if you have some kind of strong regret about all the wrong things that you have done in the past, then you might do some kind of Vajrasattva recitation or meditation, or someone can meditate a little bit in the course of one’s day-to-day life. So that start can absolutely imprint or implant a very positive habit in one’s life. So that is the correct way of beginning the integration of Dharma things within the round of one’s day-to-day life. Yeah. As we said, whatever practice you find easy to relate to — such as if you find it easy to relate to making prostrations, that’s fine.
You do that. And if you find yourself more comfortable doing meditation, that’s fine. You do it. And if you find it’s more relaxing to do the Vajrasattva meditation and recitation, that’s fine. You do it.
The main thing is you must start doing whatever you understand. Try to do it even though it’s very little. Even though it’s very meagre. Doesn’t matter. The main thing is you must get things started.
So once you start getting things started, then as the time rolls, you will definitely find some success or some result or some reaction or something happening. See, just listening to the Dharma is not enough — whatever you listen to, you must try to get that started, even though you are not able to get it started at its fullest strength. Doesn’t matter. When people do things that way, according to my experience, I find it’s much easier to guide them. Some students used to come and say, I have done this much, blah blah blah.
So then it’s much easier for me to guide them and help them. So just listening and building up information about things is not enough. Yeah. So if you get something started, regardless of the amount of the start, as the months, as the years pass, you will definitely or absolutely find something change within yourself. That sort of change which you cannot possibly get through just listening, through the mere act of listening.
See, when you become in touch with that sort of change within yourself through getting something started over the long time, then your interest in doing that also becomes so firm that you don’t need someone to tell you to do this and that. Rather, you will do the whole thing all on your own initiative. So the most important thing is — whatever you listen to, whatever Dharma information you gain — the important thing is to get it started straight away, regardless of its initial small amount. So as the author said at the end, as the conclusion of this letter, the author said to the king: I have explained the totality of the Buddhist teachings from the beginning — from how one should make the mind fit for learning Dharma — to the end of how to achieve the ultimate Buddhahood. Further, the author said, so doing such a thing — doing such a thing is also almost impossible to get done completely and purely straight away by those monks who spent their entire life in a state of isolation or in the deep forest.
So what I would request you to do is: even if you do only whatever teaching you find easy to practise in this letter, please get them started straight away. Even if it is the practice of abandoning ten non-virtuous acts. It doesn’t matter. Please get them started straight away. We talked a lot about the giving up of the different ten non-virtuous acts.
So if you can give them up all of a sudden — boom — then that’s fine. Great. Wonderful. And doing such a thing is actually very difficult. Let’s say not having harmful thoughts, or not getting upset upon meeting harsh words or wrong activities from others, is almost very difficult at the initial stage.
So to get rid of anger from its root together with its trace is almost very difficult, because it needs the strong practice of concentration and strong — or well-trained — mind in the practice of patience or perseverance and so forth. However, what we could do in the beginning is to set aside a time for yourself — maybe one day you make up your mind that today I will not get upset. Not just intellectually — emotionally, I will not get upset. If you try to not get upset, not get angry, try that way, wonderful. Maybe after that you do it a few times.
And that way, that’s also very important. That’s also very helpful. That is the source or the beginning. Yeah. Yeah.
Similarly with the killings and the covetousness and harmful thoughts and all those wrong acts we talked about — you can have a kind of commitment in your mind that I will try not to do these things even for just today, or just for a very limited time. Having made the mind focus for a very, very short or very, very limited time is also very important or very helpful to get that sort of strong control of the mind later on. So about angers and other emotional afflictions, in the beginning stage, it’s hard to give them up or get rid of them straight away by applying a strong antidote or remedies.
However, whenever you are overcome with anger, you might try to be a little bit more aware of the shortcomings of having anger and the benefits of not having anger. So basically, as you understand, anger breeds all other unwanted things or it always causes problems for us. See, once you become angry, or once anger arises in your mind, the intensity of that anger causes your mind to blank out — or you become so angry that you cannot think, and you become rather tireless in saying rude things or harsh words to other people, you know, calling people with very funny names and things like that. So your whole expression of face and the behaviour of your body, everything changes when anger takes place in the mind. So think from that sort of point — then the anger will pacify. When you think from the shortcomings or the disadvantage of having anger, or of letting anger rise in your mind, then the anger somewhat automatically pacifies.
Anger makes you go mad. The things which you normally used to enjoy eating — when you have a strong anger, the taste of that food will also somewhat decrease. And when you sleep, you can’t even go to sleep. And the place where you live — you can normally live there with ease.
When you have a strong anger, you find it’s hard — very difficult — to live in that house. So that sort of thing, you can imagine or think for yourself. And the shortcomings of anger, the disadvantage of anger, mean these things have to be thought of when one is being overcome with anger. And normally, what anger does to oneself is so obvious — people who are normally very good-looking are very sweet. They’re so sweet, so kind.
But once they have a really big anger, or once they are being very angry, the sweetness of their face is gone, and they are somewhat like a dragon. So the person who is really very sweet when one is not angry — and when that person becomes so angry, becomes like a dragon. So when you think about what makes those two personalities, then you find it’s just the anger.
Anger, how to say it, makes a totally new image of that very sweet person, whether it may be he or she, whatever. So when you think, anger causes that. And by realising that sort of thing, what we should do is: try first to understand the fact of the disadvantage of having anger, then try to not have anger even for a very short or very limited time. And that way, you train your mind to be more and more good.
Yes. Definitely. So as we were talking yesterday about the ten non-virtuous acts, things like that — so whatever you find easy to practise, you must make an effort. You must try them. You see, you must try them.
And the benefits of abandoning those ten non-virtuous acts are so obvious to understand. So mhmm. Just, let’s say, if one abandons — or if one keeps the morality of not killing — how much happiness that brings about to other sentient beings is so obvious to understand. See? So that is also the practising of morality.
The practising of morality. And generally, you see — how to say — yeah, you can try that for one or two, three, a few days. When you are able to do it for a few days, why not you can do it for one month? When you are able to do it for one month, why can’t you do it for one year? In this way, you can make doing that sort of worthwhile thing part of your life. So if you sort of made a special commitment — or that I will not do this, or I will not engage myself in the act of killing — then by the virtue of making that special commitment, you know, that causes a lot of benefit, a lot of positive things for yourself. So the person who hasn’t got that sort of commitment and the person who has got that sort of commitment — their act of not doing the things may be the same, but the positive result that comes about from not doing so is a big difference. Yeah.
So from the point of view of the capabilities that our body — or the very existence of being a human being — possesses, it is so incredible. And from that point of view, we don’t have to feel we are unequipped to practise Dharma. So from that point of view, we are well endowed. So now the reason for developing the awareness of the impermanence of death and uncertainty of death is to make ourselves more energetic and more enthusiastic about practising the Dharma or practising the doctrines or doing the right thing. So when you develop the sense of impermanence of death and the uncertainty of death, what it makes you aware of is that: oh, I’m going to die.
My very existence as a human being is not going to be the permanent one. It’s not going to last forever. So now what I have to do to fill that gap? Then you begin — you have to think that, yes, I will make right use of this short-lasting present human body.
So what do we have to do? As we talk — practising those things which we talk about. What actually we have to understand is whatever the things we study, whatever the understanding we have in terms of learning the spirituality or the Dharma, is that we have to make them as — how to say — as part of our day-to-day life. How to say, yeah.