Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 25-minute teaching, Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen addresses a core student question: how to contemplate suffering and impermanence without sinking into depression or guilt. He clarifies the path of preparation — its relationship to direct insight, and the different names given to this stage — before turning to live Q&A with five students. His concrete answers focus on recognizing the unreliability of samsaric pleasure: the luxury bed always needing improvement, the friend who shifts from beloved to enemy, prosperity that brings both pleasure and pain. He teaches the Kadampa method of first showing suffering, then leading toward practice, rather than only presenting ideals and leaving students to figure out the steps alone. The session concludes with his core instruction: when learning about karma, channel that understanding into virtuous conduct, not guilt.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 14 P and G.mp3
UUID: bd83fc0b-d3f9-45dd-9579-f7aa87f27238
Teacher: Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen
Collection: Paths and Grounds (Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen)
Date: 1995 (exact day not recorded)
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 25.2 minutes
Words: ~1,197
Preparations. Secondly, a clear realization of the meaning. And which is conducive. So there are these different terms which are used meaning the same thing. So the path of preparation is given this name — preparation — because it prepares one to achieve the result, which is the path of seeing.
So the second is like conducive — which is conducive to achieving the path of seeing. So then next, another term also used is the branch of the path of seeing. The branch of the path of seeing. That is another term which is used, because this branch here means the cause of the path of seeing. And then this term that we just used as clear realization of meaning.
So it is given this term — clear realization of meaning — and meaning here is the scriptures of the Hearers, scriptures of the Hearers, where they come to have the clear realization of the meaning, meaning that is the subtle selflessness of the person. And they come to gain, through their meditation practice, the understanding of this subtle selflessness of the person. So, but tonight we will stop here and if you have any questions. Five people with five questions. Quite joyous.
Oh, yes. Yes. What? So as it is explained — first, one needs the wish for liberation.
So once one has this wish for liberation, then whatever prosperity there is in saṃsāra, one does not get caught up in it — one is not attracted to it. Because of this wish for liberation, one is never attracted to the prosperity of saṃsāra. So as you say — just before — when something goes wrong, for example, then you see the fault of saṃsāra and you generate the thought — a thought to leave saṃsāra. But then when something good happens, one gets attracted to it. So this shows that one gets excited by the prosperity of saṃsāra.
So as long as one gets excited by the prosperity of saṃsāra, then that thought is not known as renunciation. So the prosperity of saṃsāra here means the happiness of saṃsāra, or the wealth and so on of saṃsāra. Instead of getting attracted to it, one should meditate on the uncertainty of it — one has to meditate on the uncertainty, the nature of uncertainty. The happiness of saṃsāra is nothing certain. And similarly, the wealth of saṃsāra has nothing certain about it, because saṃsāra’s happiness can change into suffering in the next moment. Like friend becoming enemy, enemy becoming friend.
So wherever one goes, it has the nature of suffering. Whatever friend one goes with, it also has the nature of suffering. And whatever wealth one enjoys, it also brings suffering. So when one familiarizes with these thoughts, then one can generate a strong thought of renunciation. So in whatever place we live in, it also has the nature of suffering, because it shows that whatever best place we go to, we want better than that. Again, better than that place. We wish for better than that place. So this shows that this has the nature of suffering.
So as example, the bed that we use — it is made very well, with a spring underneath, and then you use a mattress which is also spongy, and still not satisfied, one wants something more on top of that. So with friends too — we say it’s our best friend, or our beloved one or whatever. We say that, but it also has the nature of suffering. It is not a Dharma point. So even the world — when we enjoy it, it brings physical and mental sufferings, not only the dislike, but also that which causes future sufferings.
So generally speaking, to generate this thought of renunciation within oneself is not easy. It is very difficult. So if it were easy — if only by thinking about it this thought came easily — then there would not be many sentient beings still suffering. So just by generating this thought of renunciation, or hearing the word renunciation and knowing the meaning of it, can create a great cause — or can lead one far from saṃsāra — just by thinking on it.
Yeah. Any other questions? Other questions? The body — I used the term wicked body energy. The wind.
Oh, wind energy. Yes, that is what I — yes. So when we think about renunciation, for example, about these different types of sufferings, one shouldn’t — there’s no reason to feel depression, only. So thinking about these sufferings, one needs to know that they are caused by past negative actions. And now, by knowing these sufferings, instead of feeling guilt in oneself, one should act in a virtuous way — acting in virtue which brings happiness in the future.
So even then, like, when we talk about karma — if one feels guilt in oneself because of these different karmas, that actually doesn’t help. So what one should do is to be aware of those actions, of what those past negative actions bring — suffering. And being aware of that, what one should actually do is to collect positive actions which bring happiness in the future. So in order to understand the opposite side, whatever it is — when one is not aware of sufferings, then one doesn’t come to understand what is happening. So one needs to know both sides of it.
So it is the method taught by the Kadampa masters — one of the skillful and best methods — which is to first teach the followers or the students the nature of suffering, and then, by making them aware of the suffering, lead them to the path. So then another way of approaching to the path is that the person who explains only the qualities or the result of the thing. For example, with the apple tree — not just explaining how good the fruit of the apple itself is, not explaining what you have to do, how much you have to go through for planting it and getting it to grow, but just explaining the qualities. So when it is explained in that way, then the listener — because of knowing the qualities of the result — just engages in the practice.
So then when the person engages in the practice, they achieve the result. Then that person has to go from the very beginning — like, now I need to do the practice of bodhicitta and need to do the practice of renunciation, and so on — I come to the very beginning and then do the practice, like how you have to plant the apple from the very beginning, similar to that. So when one hears in these teachings about karma and about different sufferings, instead of feeling guilt in one’s actions, one should be motivated to create good karma. So instead of feeling bad about what one has done and what suffering one goes through, one should put effort into virtuous action, lead one’s mind into virtuous action, virtuous action.
And not even just relax one’s mind, but then engage in a virtuous session.
I will now remain.