Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 34-minute teaching, Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen analyzes virtue through specific Buddhist mental factors — faith, shame, non-attachment, and effort — and how each operates in virtuous action. He distinguishes three types of faith: believing faith arising from explanation; admiring faith developed through analysis; and aspiring faith rooted in longing for liberation. He explores how these same factors function differently in the worldly path (abandoning gross attachments to desire) and the transworldly path (abandoning afflictions with their seeds through renunciation). Using śamatha meditation as an example, he explains how pliancy develops in practice. Suited for practitioners with some familiarity with Buddhist philosophy and meditation.
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File: 24 Lo Rig.mp3
UUID: b645e060-35f7-4f1f-848b-85abf2c31620
Teacher: Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen
Collection: Nature of the Mind (Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen)
Date: 1995 (exact day not recorded)
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 33.6 minutes
Words: ~1,417
So sorry. Liking. So more I think I said joy. Instead of joy, it’s like liking. Like.
Which is — they are like — so that’s like one having a liking: one likes alcohol, and one likes possessions, and likes one’s wife, and likes one’s husband. All these are faith.
So they all are faith, but it is not virtue. And the virtuous faith — the faith that is virtue — is the faith that arises when one comes to trust. So to whatever object, when it comes to trust, then at that very moment, the mind is definite — that is the faith. So the object can be any, like a Lama or the Dharma teachings. So then the second one is shame — the consideration that arises when one is rerestraining from negative actions.
And generally, shame and consideration do not mean they are virtue. So because of that, the shame and consideration during the time when one is rerestraining from negative actions — that is virtue. So then the third one — when one is engaging in a virtuous action, then there arises the non-attachment, non-hatred, and non-ignorance, and the effort. These four arise there. So these four arise when one is engaging in a virtuous action.
And at that time, it is virtue. So generally, just saying non-attachment is not virtue. So the same thing with effort. Generally, effort is not virtue, but the effort becomes virtue when one is engaging in virtuous action. So then the plant that arises when one becomes free from attachment.
Through the worldly path. This one. So then again, when one comes to stop — or when one becomes free from the attachment through the transworldly path — there arises, what do you call, the conscientiousness. So when we talk about the worldly path and the transworldly path, with concentration, the preparatory stage and the actual state of concentration — when it comes to achieve this, the actual state of concentration can be achieved in two ways: with the worldly path or with the transworldly path. So the actual state of concentration is — so to say — the mind of the upper realms.
The mind of the upper realms. Oh. Which is the upper mind which is free from the attachment to the lower one, which is the desire realm. They don’t have the attachment towards the desire realm. And which is free from attachment towards the desire realm, and it is, what do you say, the consciousness of the form realms.
The knower or the consciousness of the form realms. So through the worldly path, one comes to abandon the attachments towards the desire realm. So through the practice of the worldly path, one can abandon the manifest or the gross afflictions or delusions of the desire realm. And by abandoning that, they come to achieve the actual state of concentration. So at that time, whatever the person has — the plant. And that is virtue.
So then similarly, through training on the transworldly path, one comes to abandon — together with the seed — the afflictions, together with the seed, and comes to achieve the actual state of concentration. And then at that time also the plant arises, and that is also a virtue. So at that time, we have both the physical and mental plant.
So then there are these two arising — not only the plant, but the conscientiousness also arises. So then now the next one is that harmlessness arises when one is benefiting other sentient beings. So this harmlessness that arises when one is benefiting others is a virtue. So we go with the first one — faith. So now the virtuous faith is the believing faith that karma and so on exist as explained.
Mhmm. And that is the believing faith. And then what do you call? Sorry. Then you have this next type of faith — what do you call? Aspiring faith. Admiring faith. And aspiring faith. Which has one of these three aspects. And having the aspect of one of these three and being the antidote of non-faith — that type of mental factor is known as the faith which is virtue.
So these three faiths are generally divided as: aspiring faith, admiring faith, and believing faith. Sorry — the first one is believing faith. And then the second and third one — one is aspiring and one is admiring.
So the specific disciple of the Abhisamayālamkāra — the Abhisamayālamkāra — in relation to those beings’ faith — so for those with dull intelligence, faith is known as believing faith. That is like aspiring faith. So just giving some explanation — it has such and such quality. For example, the Abhisamayālamkāra divided into eight parts, eight chapters, and the first three chapters have such and such qualities. Just hearing the quality and you generate faith. Without seeing, without knowing all the reasons, but just through the explanation generating a faith.
So then with the sharper intelligent ones, again they also have a head start. So with the sharper ones, they analyze whatever has been explained, and then through the analysis they come to understand, and then out of that they generate this faith which is admiring faith. So that is admiring faith — and also the faith that does not change. From that faith, the person never retreats, because the person knows the qualities and everything.
So and out of that, they generate this faith. So our faith should be like that. So then the aspiring faith — that like, through the teachings, the different realizations of true cessation and the true path — it is able to achieve. And knowing that, and wishing for that achievement, is aspiring faith.
So as a function — the functions of faith is that the faith, whatever object one has faith in, it brings about the aspiration towards the object. That is the function of the faith. Oh, yeah. So we stop here with a good faith. If you have any questions, you can ask.
Yeah. That is how — yeah — it is developed up to the point of the United States — it becomes more and more diverse. It becomes — it turns into the nature of the enlightened mind. It turns out that when you develop — when you come to achieve the enlightened state.
Yeah. So when we said transworldly path, there are many different ways of interpreting this, but in this case it is like a path which is conjoined with renunciation. So generally, another interpretation is that worldly path is the path of ordinary beings. And the path — so in this context, the transworldly path is the path that is conjoined with the total renunciation. So the worldly path is like a path that seizes the lower realms as something to be abandoned and the upper realms as something to be cultivated.
That is what — so in this, what they are meditating on would be like, for example, śamatha meditation. So both — this is one example — both the worldly and transworldly paths come to meditate on this. So when they meditate on śamatha meditation, then the pliancy — or the flexibility that one can keep on this meditation, śamatha, as one wishes — that is what we say the pliancy is. So that pliancy is known as berji berjiu. But there are other pliances here which are not berji berjiu too.
So when you say together with the afflictions of the desire realm — for example, if you are taking the example of attachment together with the seed — so when you come to abandon the seed, then there is no chance for the further attachments. So it is abandoning but not destroying. Attachment of the desire realm is still there. But then there is the attachment of the form realms as well. So only those who have abandoned the attachment of the desire realm through the worldly path — it is possible for them that through the imprints, again, the attachment comes back.
But those who have abandoned it together with the seed through the practice of the transworldly path, then they don’t come back anymore. So that which produces or brings about the attachment is the seed or the imprints. So from that influence, the future attachment arises. And that is the seed. So out of that influence, future attachment arises.
Yes. We managed to complete in time.