Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen opens this 44-minute teaching with Kadampa practice on setting daily motivation and examining actions—establishing how consistent practice, however small, builds toward enlightenment. He then explains the origin of suffering through the lens of karma and delusion. Using the three poisons (attachment, anger, ignorance) as his framework, he distinguishes mental karma from the physical and verbal actions it motivates. His detailed example of killing an animal illustrates how a single act creates layered karmas and leaves imprints on the subtle mind. He concludes by showing how these imprints ripen at death, determining rebirth in lower or upper realms. Best suited for those already familiar with Buddhist terminology.
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File: 07 4NT.mp3
UUID: c33351b3-3bec-4990-9c37-3bdbfb12d270
Teacher: Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen
Collection: The Four Noble Truths (Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen)
Date: 1996 (exact day not recorded)
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 44.6 minutes
Words: ~2,581
So quoting a line from the Kadampa teachings that in the teachings it says that the two important, I wanna say, duties to perform that is at the very beginning and at the very end. Like these two are very important. So these two duties can be understood in or interpreted in many different ways. So in one way, one way of interpretation of this is that, like, from the time when one gets up in the morning, that’s the one part of one duty. And then finally at the end, just before when one goes to bed.
So these two parts of the day. So so as soon as one gets up in the morning, that setting of motivation that I won’t let myself under control of the self-grasping thought or the self-cherishing mind. And I will, like, cherish other sentient beings or I will have my loving kindness towards other sentient beings. So in that way, you set out the motivation. So then before you go to bed, you — what to say — you examine the day.
What what do you have — what did you do on that day? Well, such and such, whatever you have done, you like what you check all those actions. So so then by taking stock of one’s action, if one had gone against the precepts of the Dharma practice or your mind training teachings, if one had gone against those precepts, then one should — what is that — one should feel regret towards those actions and ask for the forgiveness of your actions. So so while checking your action of the day, and if you find that you have done some actions which are against the precepts or against the Dharma practice, then you speak to yourself saying you speak to yourself, like telling you have done such and such wrong and then remember the instructions that are given by the Lama or from the Lamrim teachings and remind that to yourself. So so then it happened that most of one’s body and speech have been something negative.
Then thinking or engaging in the practice of purification — thinking that I have wasted my precious human body and by doing these negative actions, I have — I’m harming myself. So thinking that and engaging in the purification practice. So so then and then on the other hand, while you analyze, when you check your action, if it happens that most of your action is virtue, then praise yourself and thinking that you haven’t wasted your time and plus you haven’t wasted the precious human body. So so then dedicating those virtuous actions, the merit that you accumulate through your virtuous action towards — what do say — towards other sentient beings, like through the virtue that I’ve accumulated may the other sentient beings have happiness. And also, may I be never separated from the bodhicitta. So making these prayers and then if you go to bed, then it’s very good. So so then the next day, again, you get up, then you set your mind again saying that I will do better than what I’ve done yesterday and setting up the motivation again.
That if you set up a good motivation in the beginning, then if you divide the day into six sessions, then because of the strong and good motivation that most of your sessions or the time that you spend becomes — what is it — virtue. So so then another interpretation of this, like, the two duties in the beginning and the end is that, like here, at the beginning of the teachings — listening, for example, listening to a teaching at the beginning and at the end of the teaching — what you do. And similarly when you do meditation — what you do in the beginning and at the end. So so as a for example with teachings, you know, like setting up the motivation at the very beginning, like before you come to this room coming from outside, like setting up — I come here to listen to the teachings, which is setting up that I listen to the teaching for the sake of all sentient beings. And in that way, if you do like set up your motivation like at the beginning, setting up in that way and then in the meantime, like, listening well.
And then finally, at the end, like, when you’re back in your house or your room before going to bed, like, again, analyzing what you have done on that day. So so then meantime, when you listen to the teaching, it doesn’t mean that you will understand like a hundred percent of what has been explained, but whatever you understand from the teaching — like being mindful or keeping that in your mind. And then if it happens that you’re doing some wrong actions or if delusion arises in you, like immediately thinking that that is something negative and non-virtue, and if you do have that, as a result one will be reborn in the lower realms or the hell realms. Sorry, hell realms. So thinking of that and living in that way is what is meant by doing Dharma practice. And Dharma practice doesn’t mean that you have to come here and sit properly and do something.
So so that from something very small you should start practicing. One shouldn’t be something like ignoring small practice and from the beginning going and grabbing big or high practice. Then because it’s a high practice it happens that one is unable to do all the practice or keep the commitment and then you lose both. You don’t also have the small practice and also you don’t have the high practice. So not being like that — if you continue from something a little at a time, then it’s definite — I would say, definite or a hundred percent — that one will one day achieve Buddhahood.
So it’s as an example — how you collect, I would say, money — in the same way like, yeah, like you have to collect from a small amount. It doesn’t mean that you will receive a big amount. It’s not easy. So collect five cents, ten cents and fifty cents and then slowly you have more and more. You can collect more numbers.
So if you don’t collect from five to ten or fifty cents then there’s no way you can get a, I would say, a more — like a lot of amount. So as we are managed and should work — what do say — if you compare, one should work for others more; I would say, see, the work for others is more important. Then to benefit others, one way is to give Dharma teachings and in that way you benefit others. And first to give others teachings, you need to know what others need and what their interests are, and in order to know that you have to be perfect — which means you have to reach Buddhahood. So in order to do that, in order to reach Buddhahood or the enlightened state, I — here, now — will listen to the teaching for that purpose. I will listen to the teaching and live with the practice. So thinking that and setting up a bodhicitta motivation, we do a short meditation here.
So the subject that Geshe-la will be speaking on is the four noble truths. And of the four noble truths, the second two truths — that is the true cessation and true path — Geshe-la is saying that these two truths, I mean, if one doesn’t have some understanding of the philosophical part of the explanation, it is not easy — it is not easily understood. Last time Geshe-la explained those gross non-virtuous actions, like the ten gross non-virtuous actions and the opposite of that — the ten virtuous actions. These have been briefly explained last time so today Geshe-la said that he will explain how these non-virtuous actions are committed or created.
So he will explain according to the text of Kosha. So according to the text of the Dharmakosha he will explain how these negativities are created. So in short, like all the pain and sufferings of the desire realm, or in the lower realms, or any kind of problems that we face, is the result of the second truth — that is the true origin or the cause of suffering. The cause of suffering — there are two — that is the karma and the second one is the delusion. So if you to summarize all delusions, then they can be summarized into three.
That is the three poisons which are known as attachment, anger, ignorance. Then motivated or forced by these three delusions, one comes to create action. And then the action or the karma — according to Abhidharmakośa — there are two types. So in the Abhidharma text, the Abhidharmakośa text, the master Vasubandhu explains that all universe is caused by karma or produced by karma, and karma is of two kinds — that is known as the mental activity or mental karma, and karma of body and speech. There are these two types. So the mental activity is that — is actions of consciousness or actions of the mind.
So the mental activity is what is known as, in short, the action of the mind. Yeah. So those three non-virtuous actions which are committed through our mind — that of covetousness, ill will, and wrong view — these three are known as the mental activity or mental karma. So so these three mental actions — two are caused by the delusions, and the delusion known as those three poisons causes these three mental actions.
So, like the first — covetousness — that is motivated or caused by attachment, one of the three poisons. So covetousness is that which you desire or you wish for others’ belongings, others’ things, so that you are attached to the belongings of the other and that attachment causes or motivates this action that is covetousness. And then next, like the — what do you call — the ill will — that again is a mental action, the negative action of mind which is caused by hatred or anger. And then the third negative action of mind is wrong view, which is caused by ignorance. So then the next, the intended action or the intended karma, which is motivated by the mind — and then the action, the physical action or the verbal action which is caused by the mind.
So these two — that are the physical action and the verbal action — these are known as the intended action or karma. So the mind motivates to do some action and then physically or verbally one engages in the action, and these two — like the physically engaging in the action and the verbally engaging in the action — these two are, what I say, when you complete that action then the intended action or karma is completed. So, for example, killing a sheep or a goat — that first, that action of killing first which is motivated by the mind which is either attachment — out of attachment you attach to the sheep and then that mind motivates. So then under the influence of that attachment the person performs the action of killing. So as soon as the sheep or the goat stops breathing, then the physical action of killing is completed. So this one act of killing — the one action of killing — there you commit three types of actions or three types of karma. That is one of the mental karma, and then secondly the physical karma, and then thirdly, the verbal karma, the verbal action.
So one, what do say, creates these three karma in one action. So not only three actions, but all the time that the person has engaged in killing the animal — all those between — all those times, unless until the animal completely dies, between all those actions, all those times, the person collects like a lot of negative actions like a rainfall of negative actions in that period of killing. So so then from the second moment, like — what is it — the second moment of your action, like the karma that you just did ceases from its second moment, but then the imprints of that action of killing are left or put on the mind — that subtle mind that which comes from our past life to this life and that which goes from this life to next life. So on that mind the imprints of that action are, like, what is it, placed.
Left there. So so then on the other hand, it’s the same with the virtuous action — like you accumulate virtuous action and the second moment of that action, the imprints of that virtuous action are left on the mind. So we have like many — we have left or kept many imprints of virtuous action and non-virtuous action in our mind. So when one faces death, at that time if some conditions cause to ripen the non-virtuous action — for example the act of killing — then one experiences the result of that negative action and one might be reborn in the lower realms. So in the same way if one meets another condition which ripens one’s virtuous action, then that might lead one, or as a result, to be born in the upper realms like a human or a god.
Yes. So because of that reason we advise all the time, even in Lamrim teachings, that in all your actions you should be careful, like while you’re walking or sleeping — at any time. So Buddha himself had said that keeping the precepts of the ten non-virtuous actions in the degenerate age has much greater benefit than keeping the precept during the time of Buddha. Keeping the precept of ten non-virtuous actions during the time of Buddha — as he said, keeping all the ten non-virtuous actions — or keeping the precepts of all ten virtuous actions at the time of Buddha — and keeping one of the ten at this degenerate age. If you compare the virtue, Buddha said that keeping one precept of this degenerate age, just for one day or one hour, has much more or greater benefit than observing all ten during the time of Buddha.
So similarly, again the karma can be explained under three types. The virtuous karma, the non-virtuous karma, and the immovable karma. So karma again can be explained in three types. So those non-virtuous actions which are caused by delusions are known as non-virtuous actions, and as a result of that, one is reborn in the lower realms. So then motivated by thinking that whatever you’re doing is for the next life, and with that motivation, like any virtuous action — like even reciting a line of mantra — that action, that virtuous action, is known as virtuous karma.
Sorry, and as a result of that action, one is reborn in the upper realms. So the karma that leads one to the lower realms and the karma that leads one to the desire realm — these karma are known as movable karma. And then the karma that which leads one to be reborn in the upper realms.