Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 44-minute teaching, Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen explores why Buddha taught the Four Noble Truths in a counterintuitive order—presenting results before causes—a method designed to help students genuinely turn away from suffering. He begins by explaining how karma and delusions bind us to saṃsāra, then poses the central question: how can anyone seek liberation without first seeing saṃsāra’s faults? Using the prison-escape analogy, he shows that recognizing suffering must precede seeking its causes. He unfolds the three types of suffering: pain, the suffering of change (with examples of overheating in the sun or overeating), and pervasive conditioning, the hardest to recognize. He closes with Q&A on Pure Lands and the Path of Seeing, including how Kaundinya first achieved direct realization. The teaching assumes some philosophical background.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 04 4NT.mp3
UUID: bf6de1c6-b232-4ac5-9766-28bbff2dc99f
Teacher: Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen
Collection: The Four Noble Truths (Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen)
Date: 1996 (exact day not recorded)
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 44.7 minutes
Words: ~2,351
So how we are bound by common delusions is — if you look according to the different realms of the three realms — one takes birth into one of these three realms under the control of karma and delusions, and that’s how one is bound to one of those realms. And similarly, if you look through the sentient beings, or migrators, then there are six kinds of migrators, into one of which one is bound to take birth. So if you look at in what way we are born, there are four different ways of being born. So the karma and delusions bind us to take one of those four ways of being born. So if one is no more under the control of karma and delusion, then one is no more bound by karma and delusions — which means that one has, I want to say, achieved liberation.
So then, next: circling in saṃsāra is that one circles from the top of saṃsāra — the tip of saṃsāra — to the very bottom of saṃsāra, which means we circle around and around. So we circle through these different stages in saṃsāra under the control of delusions. And those places where we are born — the place can be, in the term, known as saṃsāra.
So the actual meaning of saṃsāra is taking birth again and again into this contaminated body, this defiled body. Or it could be understood as saṃsāra being the continuation of taking the defiled body or contaminated body. So whenever it sees the continuation of karma and delusions making one take birth in saṃsāra ends — that is the time that one achieves liberation. So as an example: a person, in order to have this desire to leave prison, that person — whoever it may be — first needs to see the faults of prison.
So in order to have this desire to leave prison, the person first has to think over the faults of the prison. So similarly, in order to have this desire to leave saṃsāra or to escape from saṃsāra, one needs to see the faults of saṃsāra. So in order to see the faults of saṃsāra, first one has to think — one has to think — what are the faults. So for that purpose, in order to see or contemplate the faults of saṃsāra, there are two different ways that you could contemplate the faults of saṃsāra.
And that is: one is through contemplating the nature of the Four Noble Truths, and secondly, through contemplating the twelve links of interdependent origination. So then, now, to think or contemplate the faults of saṃsāra through contemplating the nature of the Four Noble Truths: when Buddha first taught the Four Noble Truths, Buddha taught the Four Noble Truths first by teaching the result, and then teaching the cause. So of the Four Noble Truths, the first two are the cause and result of saṃsāra, and the second two are the cause and result of nirvana. So of the first two — cause and effect — that Buddha taught, he taught the result first, which is the True Suffering. And then later, he taught the cause of suffering — the True Origin. So in the normal order, first comes the cause and then comes the result.
But here Buddha taught first the result and later explained the cause, and there’s a reason behind this. And similarly, the cause and result of nirvana too have been explained in the same order — first the result was explained, and the second was the cause. So the purpose or reason of teaching in that order is that for the disciples, first one has to recognize the sufferings or contemplate the sufferings. So first recognizing the suffering and then turning your mind away from suffering — that is what do you say — turning your mind away from the suffering. And in order to turn away from suffering, one first needs to, then later, know what causes the suffering.
So to understand this, in the text known as the Uttaratantra, they explain — giving an example — saying that the person, whoever it may be, has to recognize sickness. So after recognizing the sickness, then the person should look into what causes that sickness.
So then finding out the cause, knowing the cause, and according to the cause the medicine is given or the medicine is applied. And that way you get rid of the cause of the sickness. Otherwise, if you don’t recognize or if you don’t identify the cause, then there’s no way you can get rid of the sickness. So similarly, as this example shows, first one has to recognize the suffering, and then generate this mind which doesn’t want the suffering — turning away from that suffering. So then, in order not to experience the suffering, you have to look for its cause.
And the cause of the suffering is known as karma and delusion. And by applying antidotes towards these two, that’s how you get rid of the cause of the suffering. So similarly, to explain another example: let’s say if you are lying in a plane — if you are lying in a place where water comes from above and then you get wet and you experience some suffering. So if you just stay right where you are, that doesn’t stop your suffering.
But if you stop the water where it actually comes from, then you don’t experience the suffering. So that’s another example. So thinking or contemplating these different sufferings — like in the Great Lamrim teachings, there are these different types, different numbers of sufferings which we can think or contemplate on. Which are known as the eight types of suffering, or the three types of suffering, and the six types of suffering, which are explained in the great text. So the eight types of sufferings are known as mainly the sufferings that human beings go through.
Then the six types of sufferings are known as the general sufferings of saṃsāra. And then the three types of sufferings are what all sufferings are included in. So the three types of sufferings are known as: the suffering of pain or misery, and second, the suffering of change, and then the third one, the suffering of pervasive conditioning.
Pervasive suffering. So as most of us know or have known or recognise, the first suffering is the suffering of pain. So the suffering of change — which is known as the contaminated happiness or defiled happiness — is known as the suffering of change. So as an example: if you are very, extremely cold and if you happen to go to a very sunny place, at the very first time, at the very beginning, you feel — I would say — happiness, or you feel joy of being there. So then, but if you stay there long, then again you have to cover yourself, your head, or wear a hat, or come to a shady place.
So this shows that this contaminated happiness is changing into suffering. So similarly, like when you are very hungry, whatever food you eat is delicious. And then if you happen to like, if you overeat the same food, then again you feel sick. Mhmm. I didn’t do it.
And — oh, yeah — this is known as the suffering of change. So the third type of suffering, the pervasive suffering, is extremely difficult for us to recognise. So the pervasive suffering is known as: this continuation of the body that we have is the pervasive suffering. So as long as we have this body, we will never have everlasting happiness.
We will never have the everlasting happiness — which we sometimes, when we are mentally or physically sick, we complain — but as long as we have this body, we will never have that everlasting happiness. So like when we go to bed or when we are sleeping, we have a good mattress and we put blankets over us and we lie down on one side. Supposed to be something — I would say — comfortable and happy. But then later on we have to turn or roll on the other side and sleep in another position.
So all that — and all the rest and rest that we experience — this body itself doesn’t have a good cause. So because of that, it also doesn’t have a good result. So as an example, like Tibetans who have no freedom of religion. In a similar way, as long as one has this body — because the body itself has no choice and no freedom — one won’t experience everlasting happiness. So as another example: the poisonous plant, the poisonous seed, if you plant that, it will give rise to its sprout which — like all the plants or the tree itself — in the trunk, the leaves, and everything, its fruit turns out to be poison.
And it doesn’t — I would say — give rise to any medicine out of that. So about the suffering — yeah, I guess you said that you will do this much for tonight. And the detailed explanation on suffering, Geshe-la will be explaining in next teachings, in Sunday’s teachings — the detailed explanation on suffering. So these are the three types of sufferings, known as the three root sufferings. These three sufferings are produced by their cause, which is known as the second noble truth.
That is the True Origin or True Cause of Sufferings. So the True Origin — another way to say it — the True Cause of Suffering, is of two kinds: that of karma and delusion. So to talk about delusions — delusions there are also many different kinds — and they are also known as the ten non-virtuous actions. Or in the Precious Garland, another text, that explains sixteen non-virtuous actions. Those are known as the delusions.
And then how — let’s say — how these delusions create different karmas — this is what Geshe-la said he will explain in next teachings. He will do this much for now. And maybe he’s saying — your ears might be hearing strange sounds. He’s saying that maybe it looks like — he said he’s not saying that you might be hearing the sound of missiles, that now the Chinese are throwing over a thousand. So he said he’s just kidding.
And this subject itself — on the subject of the Four Noble Truths — it’s not easily understood. Unless you have some understanding of philosophy, this philosophy is not easily understood, but even then just hearing on this subject is something very good, that we leave good imprints in our mind. So understanding one hundred percent what has been explained here — not possible — but whatever you understood out of these explanations, according to your own understanding — if you have understood something out of this explanation, then the time you spend here becomes worthwhile.
So how much you have understood from this teaching — that much benefit you have received. So in order to understand — I don’t know how to say — one hundred percent what has been explained, one would have to be fully enlightened to understand like one hundred percent. He was saying that for him, explaining is not difficult because he can look and explain. So the explanation that Geshe-la is giving here is according to different texts, explaining sources — all these explanations come from many different texts. And making it simple and easy to understand, he looks into all these different teachings or texts and then gives this explanation. So thank you, and if you have any questions, you can ask. If not, then — yeah.
So Pure Land — what do you say — Pure Land is not a saṃsāra place, but in the Pure Land there are sentient beings. So if it were a saṃsāra place, then it would have to be caused by karma and delusion. But Pure Land is not caused by karma and delusion; it’s caused by karma and good prayers. So like those different pure lands known as Sukhāvati and Potala.
These different pure lands. Like Potala is a palace of Avalokiteśvara. And Potala came into existence through the power of prayers and karma of the beings who are living there — like Tārā and others. So similarly, the pure land known as Sukhāvati too came into existence through the prayers of Amitābha Buddha.
Yep. Okay. Any other question? So, Path of Seeing — when you have a direct realization of the Four Noble Truths, that time is the state known as achieving the Path of Seeing. Normally when we do the Guru Puja practice, there is this line where you pay homage to — namo Sanghaya — to the spiritual friend, or the Sangha.
And Sangha — there are two kinds. One is known as the ordinary Sangha, and the second one is known as the Ārya Sangha, the superior Sangha. So then the ordinary sanghas — when they first come to achieve the Path of Seeing, they become — or the first — I would say — they become the Ārya Asaṇga, or they reach the Path of Seeing. So as explained before in the beginning of the teaching — saying that one of the five disciples, known as Kaundinya, reached the Path of Seeing when the Buddha explained the four lines of the Four Noble Truths the first time.
At that time — so as soon as Kaundinya reaches the state of Ārya, achieves the Path of Seeing — then, I would say, there are all three refuge objects present. So which is: the refuge, the Buddha, who is turning the Dharma — as the Buddha — is the refuge object known as Buddha. Then the second refuge object, which is Dharma, is the Four Noble Truths. And then the Sangha refuge object, which becomes Kaundinya. Not again.
Anything else? So at that time, then let’s say the three objects of refuge.