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 works through five virtuous mental factors from classical Buddhist psychology: non-attachment (observing samsaric objects without grasping), non-hatred (the lack of intent to harm, rooted in compassion for suffering), non-ignorance (discriminative wisdom built through hearing, thinking, and meditating), effort (delight in virtue), and pliancy (the capacity to rest the mind in virtue without rigidity). For each factor, he explains its definition, how it arises, how it counters delusion, and its function on the path. This session is part of a larger commentary on the fifty-one mental factors based on the Abhidharmakośa. Suited for students already familiar with Buddhist philosophical frameworks.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 25 Lo Rig.mp3
UUID: cc634e31-347e-4034-a7a5-9c5fee644c69
Teacher: Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen
Collection: Nature of the Mind (Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen)
Date: 1995 (exact day not recorded)
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 45.8 minutes
Words: ~1,768
So quoting from the teachings of Vasubandhu — that in the text called Abhidharmakośa — where he explains that on the basis of pure morality, one should listen to the teachings. So listening to the teachings. And then the second step is thinking on the meanings of what you have heard. And then thirdly, meditating on those meanings that you come to understand. So for that, to bring our mind into a virtuous state,
one has to meditate on the precious human rebirth, and to make oneself do these practices, one has to meditate on impermanence. So in short, whatever practice one does — whether the practice of listening, thinking, or meditating — it has to be conjoined with the thought of renunciation. So to generate the renunciation beforehand, one needs to know the different types of sufferings: the suffering of suffering, suffering of change, and the suffering of pervasive conditioning. These three sufferings one has to recognize and generate the wish to get rid of all these sufferings. So whatever practice you do — whether it is the practice of bodhicitta, or different types of practice, or whether it is tantric practice, or the practice of the three scopes — all these practices should be conjoined with the thought of renunciation.
So all of those practices, if conjoined with the thought of bodhicitta, then they become the actual cause for the fully enlightened state. So it is also very important to recognize the causes of bodhicitta and also the nature of bodhicitta. So in short, one should set up this motivation: I am listening to the teaching in order to free all the sentient beings of the three realms. With this motivation, we meditate for a few minutes on bodhicitta. So the subject that we were talking about is the fifty-one mental factors.
And we covered or finished explaining the five omnipresent mental factors and the five determining mental factors. So on the third part, which is the eleven virtues. And from the eleven virtues, the first, second, and third — the faith, shame, and the consideration — these three have been explained. And today, we shall explain the non-attachment and so on, the rest.
So these mental factors like non-attachment, non-hatred, non-ignorance, and effort arise when one is engaging in a virtuous action. So generally, attachment is known as a delusion. So the attachment of desire is known as non-virtue. So how we come to generate attachment is: we observe an object of saṃsāra, and by observing that object, the attachment arises. Attachment — as a result — we experience sufferings, or that attachment brings forth suffering as a result. And because it produces suffering, it is put on the side of non-virtue.
So when you say non-attachment, non-attachment is a virtue and it also, like, observes the objects of saṃsāra. So what is it? Attachment is observing the object of saṃsāra, and non-attachment is the opposite of that — not being attached to the objects of saṃsāra. Which acts as an antidote towards attachment.
So the mental factor that does not engage in taking or observing only the objects of saṃsāra — so then the second is non-hatred. So generally, what hatred is — that which we direct towards others. All the anger or the wrath also is known as hatred. And it has the nature of non-virtue.
Oh, yeah. So while one is engaging in virtuous action, then at that point, at that time, there is also this non-hatred, and that non-hatred is virtue. So by observing the sentient beings who are suffering — by observing the suffering sentient beings — one actually comes to get rid of the hatred. So it is the lack of intention to bring harm to sentient beings. That mental factor is what is non-hatred. Yeah, that is the meaning or the definition of non-hatred.
So here, renouncing saṃsāra — which is: by enjoying the samsaric things like the body and wealth of saṃsāra, as a consequence, it gives rise to sufferings. It has the nature of suffering — for example like birth, aging, sickness, and death. So by knowing that saṃsāra enjoyment — by knowing that through the enjoyment of saṃsāra pleasure, or saṃsāra body and wealth, it gives rise to these sufferings that afterward one goes through — knowing that and renouncing that, or stopping oneself from engaging in that. So that is what one renounces.
So the third one is then non-ignorance. And that is — the non-ignorance that arises at the time of birth, or arisen out of hearing, thinking, contemplating, and meditating — non-ignorance which acts as an antidote towards ignorance. So which is a discriminative wisdom. Discriminative wisdom that has a base — that which is based on, what do you call — that which is based on the wisdom gained from meditation or the wisdom gained from concentration.
So that mind, that mental factor, is what is non-ignorance. So the non-ignorance attained or achieved at the time of birth — or the wisdom that is achieved at the time of birth — that is like a natural thing that comes at the time of birth. So that natural non-ignorance arises because of the past life’s familiarity with virtue. So hearing is like hearing from the spiritual masters or from all the scriptural part of the teachings.
So like the explanation of somebody, or like, knowing what this is — sound just coming to know, like, the sound being impermanent, by hearing. That is just, what is — through hearing, one comes to create one of the causes of non-ignorance. So then what one has heard, one is contemplating on that. And out of that, the understanding — or the wisdom that you gain from contemplating — that also is another cause.
So through hearing, the wisdom of hearing — through hearing you generate the wisdom of understanding the sound being impermanent. So then this wisdom that one gains out of hearing acts as an antidote for ignorance. Ignorance is not knowing. And so when one comes to have the wisdom of understanding sound being impermanent, or comes to realize emptiness or selflessness of a person, then that wisdom or that understanding acts as an antidote towards ignorance.
And the next is effort. Effort is known as a mental factor that is delighted in virtuous action. So that mental factor which is delighted in virtue. So this delight in virtuous actions — the first part is the delighted intention. Delighted intention towards the action.
And then the second one is, what do you call, delighted preparation in the action. Delighted preparation in action. Mhmm. And then the third one is delighted — like being in the lowest position and even then not having any discouragement in a virtuous action.
And then another one is irreversible — which is that even if someone places obstacles on the way, you have this irreversible effort. So and then the last — the next one — is not being content with whatever small virtue that one achieves or one gains. So this is what effort means.
So the function of effort is that it helps one to achieve the virtue which one has not yet achieved. And then it helps perfect the virtue that one had. That is how effort functions. So the effort that we put in all actions — that is not the effort that we are talking about here. So the next two are the pliancy. Last time we talked about the pliancy achieved through the worldly path.
And then the next two — conscientiousness and equanimity — these two are achieved through the transworldly path. So pliancy as its definition of meaning: able to keep one’s mind in a virtuous state as long as one wishes. Yes. And which function is that? Which removes the inflexibility of body and mind. This one. Which removes the inflexibility of body and the mind. So that pliancy — that is what pliancy is.
So the inflexibility of the body is what stops the body from working. So that which leads towards a virtuous action — that which leads towards virtue — is the pliancy which removes the inflexibility of the body and leads it towards virtue. That is what is the bodily pliancy.
So as an example, like the pliancy where timbers grow — like if you cover the timbers, the flowers, not to get them blown down by the wind — in the same way that the pliancy, the bodily pliancy, the particular pliancy protects the body, protects the body from its inflexibility. So the delusions are what make the mind inflexible. So those delusions keep the mind away from virtue. So then the mental pliancy stops that — stops the delusions, removes the delusions — and leads towards a virtuous state where one can stay in the virtuous state as long as one wishes.
So unlike this, the inflexibility of the body — for example, even Hearers and Solitary Buddhas, they also still have this inflexibility of body and speech. So which is literally — another meaning is that when walking along the path, not going straight, but going to each side and the other side and like this — that is what the inflexibility is. Oh. And the Foe Destroyers, they have this. So in short, all the non-virtue of the body is the physical inflexibility.
And then all the delusions of the three times are the mental inflexibility. So then the pliancy — the mental pliancy and the physical pliancy — stops these two and leads towards a virtuous state of mind. So the inflexibility, if you literally translate from Tibetan, it is like an unfortunate birth — an unfortunate place where one experiences sufferings. Which is again like an unfortunate rebirth — where through that, in the future, it brings forth future sufferings.
From that, it brings forth future sufferings. So the inflexibility of body, speech, and mind. So the inflexibility of the body, speech, and mind is the unfortunate part of the body, speech, and mind. So then the pliancy or the flexibility that stops this unfortunate state of the body, speech, and mind — or inflexibility of the body, speech, and mind — and leads towards virtue. So the pliancy is what transforms or changes this state — that which is the unfortunate state — into fortunate.
So yes. So the next one is the conscientiousness that arises through the transworldly path. So conscientiousness is the lack of these three — the non-attachment, non-hatred, non-ignorance — plus the effort.