Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 35-minute teaching, Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen explains core mental factors that keep the mind from sliding toward delusion. He distinguishes between contaminated phenomena (those fueling attachment and aversion) and non-contaminated ones, then dives into equanimity and its function in managing the two biggest obstacles that arise when meditating: sloth, which dims mental clarity, and excitement, which scatters attention toward attractive or aversive objects. He covers conscientiousness (guarding against harmful influences) and harmlessness (freedom from wishing to harm). The Q&A clarifies how effort as a mental factor differs from the perfection of effort, and addresses why advanced practitioners can still repeat physical and verbal patterns from past conditioning. For those studying Buddhist psychology or working to stabilize their meditation.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 26 Lo Rig.mp3
UUID: fb5166d3-a263-4af2-b927-7763126fe68e
Teacher: Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen
Collection: Nature of the Mind (Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen)
Date: 1995 (exact day not recorded)
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 35.0 minutes
Words: ~1,502
Together, it is named conscientiousness. And it is named for this reason — it contemplates on virtue. And which protects the mind from contaminated phenomena. Mhmm. That is the conscientiousness.
So to protect the mind from contaminated phenomena — which prevents the actual contaminated things. So the contaminated things in the sense of the gross type of attachments or gross delusions. For example, when one comes to realize — or when one comes to understand emptiness — at that very time, there are still delusions or contaminations, contaminated phenomena. But they are not manifesting. They are not there in the form of manifesting. They are there in a hidden manner. They are there in the hidden form.
So this contaminated phenomena has two: the manifest one and the seed or the imprints. The manifest, contaminated phenomena are removed by the worldly path. But the worldly path cannot remove the imprints or the seed. It cannot actually remove the seed, but it can weaken the power of the seed. So through the practice of the transworldly path, one can actually get rid of the seed.
So contaminated things — actually, it is the delusions. So if it is a contaminated thing, whatever object — if that is a contaminated thing — that means depending on that object, it happens that the delusions increase. By having contact with that object, the delusion increases. For example, our body. So for example, the attachment arises with the aggregate of form. So that is like the attachment increases because of the object, the form. That is how the delusion arises out of form or object.
So then the other aggregates — like the attachment which comes along with the feelings and so on — again cause the attachment or the delusion to increase. So if one is to observe the true path, then the attachment — the increase of the attachment — stops. Using the object of the true path, it stops the attachment. So the true path is known as the uncontaminated things. And when we observe the uncontaminated things, then it decreases the delusions or the attachment.
So generally, the worldly path is known as the contaminated, and the transworldly path is known as the non-contaminated. So the phenomena or the things in saṃsāra — depending on that or having contact with that — the delusion arises. Oh, yeah. So then conscientiousness functions as: one comes to achieve all that one is working for. It functions to make one achieve all what one is working for.
And also it functions such that what one has achieved increases. So then the next is equanimity. And that also is similar to the conscientiousness — which is composed of these four: the three of non-attachment, non-hatred, non-ignorance, and plus the effort. So one does not need strong effort to get rid of the sloth and excitement.
And which is not weakened by these two disturbances like the sloth and excitement. That is what is known as equanimity. So the sloth is what causes the unclear awareness. So when one is meditating, one’s mind is not clear and the object is not appearing to one very clearly. Which is neither virtue nor non-virtue. It is an unclear state. That is what is the sloth. And then the excitement is that out of attachment, one’s mind wanders towards the objects. So the mind is not resting inside.
Oh. So yeah, these two are known as the sloth and the excitement. So in the state of equanimity, when one reaches that state of equanimity, then one does not need to put effort to get rid of these two. So that mental factor is equanimity. Any meditation practice on these two — the sloth and excitement — these are sort of the main two things that one has to stop, one has to remove.
So if one has the sloth in one’s meditation, then that makes one’s visualization unclear. So the excitement — if one has that — is what makes one’s mind wander out towards different objects, the objects of attachment or hatred. So then the next factor is harmlessness. So the harmlessness arises — it is also virtue.
Harmlessness arises during the time when one is not engaging in the action of harming. Not having any part of harming. And not having a wish to harm. And then that mind having the wish to free beings from suffering. So the unbearable mind — the unbearable mind that wishes to free the being from the state of suffering — which has no thought of harm, no intention of harming. So intention of harming — such as having, like, the intention to beat, strike, and kill — these intentions. So harmlessness is the opposite of that — which is not harming sentient beings or killing sentient beings.
Which is not harming sentient beings. Oh. So this, like, avoiding harming — this one. So with abandoning harming is the harmlessness, and these finish the eleven mental factors.
So then the rest of the mental factors — we will explain next, which is the six root delusions and then the twenty secondary delusions. And the four changeable mental factors. And then that explanation ends the teaching. Yeah. Yeah.
Any questions? It has the same function. So these two efforts — the effort that we explained here among the fifty-one mental factors and the effort that is explained in the six perfections — these two have some differences. And this year, as I said, according to the Sūtrayāna Madhyamaka view, the effort of the six perfections — the effort that is explained in the six perfections — is one within them. If we as Buddhists have that effort, which is encompassing the six perfections — so in the Sūtrayāna Madhyamaka, they differentiate the effort and the perfection of effort. The practice that you do to perfect the perfection of effort is differentiated. But then they explain the same thing — effort and the training for the perfection of effort. So the effort that is the perfection of effort — which is explained in the six perfections or the ten perfections — is meant mainly for the training of effort.
And this effort that we were talking about in the mental factors is the joyous effort — which is joyous effort towards virtue. So another difference is that the perfection of effort — whatever goes there — is a training. And then this one, the virtuous effort can be any.
No? Champa? No. Thank you. Yeah?
So in general, all the delusions that occur through the body are the bodily and physical inflexibility. All the delusions that I guess occur through speech — that is the inflexibility of the speech. And about the speech — because there was this time during the time of the Buddha when they went for begging in some places. So on the way back, they were coming like that. They had to move like this.
So it was that out of their past life’s familiarity they happened to jump or go here and there. And because of that when they were coming back they were doing that. So then the Buddha prescribed a rule: not to do that. Yes.
So that is what is the inflexibility of the body. That is explained — you said that is the inflexibility of the body, not the inflexibility of the mind. But once they are arhats, then they don’t actually come to accumulate or incur delusions out of their body. So like — yeah — out of past familiarity they did those different actions. And they come to do again even when they are arhats at that time.
And the same thing — even the arhats come through their speech. Like, actually when they are arhats they don’t come to accumulate new delusions, but their past imprints or past familiarity cause them to use those nicknames or different things among others. And that is the inflexibility of the speech. So like, what do you say — the example they use: jumping like a monkey. Or like, what do you call — criticizing others or telling bad things about others.
I explain it as inflexibility. That is what I am talking about. But then if you look at the word, then it is like an unfortunate birth. It is inflexible. The same Tibetan word has two different translations — sometimes translated as inflexible, sometimes translated as unfortunate rebirth. So in this part, the inflexibility is because of their past familiarity.
So as a fully ordained monk, they should not — like, what do you call — when you are walking, what do you call when you move your arms like this. Swing your arms — or look into the far distance. They are not allowed. So that also comes to create false or negative actions. So because of that, the Buddha prescribed this rule: not to jump like a monkey or like that. Yeah.
Yeah.