Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 40-minute talk, Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen teaches the fourth line of a Training the Mind text, focusing on regarding beings of “wicked nature”—those with negative karma, those who cause harm, or those suffering severe illness—as precious treasures for practicing compassion. Rather than avoiding such beings (leprosy is given as an example), practitioners hold them dearly, generating joy as if finding a jewel. The teaching emphasizes that bodhicitta meditation must begin with compassion toward those in front of us—family, neighbors, those we dislike—not distant, imagined beings. Through stories and modern examples (racism, conflict with China), the Geshe shows how this practice extends to all beings.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 04 ToM.mp3
UUID: d3654d49-7642-4c0b-898e-e52344cfe43c
Teacher: Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen
Collection: Training of the Mind (Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen)
Date: 1996 (exact day not recorded)
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 40.6 minutes
Words: ~2,086
Explanations of the third and fourth lines. So in every action — all these four types of action that we have — one should always analyse one’s mental continuum and see whether a delusion is arising or not. And if a delusion arises — so now the meaning of the fourth line — and that is, generally speaking, that one shouldn’t have this mind of near and far towards any sentient beings.
One should hold all those sentient beings as being a dear one. So among sentient beings, for example, just as among humans there are those of good nature and those of bad nature, so the same with all sentient beings. And among those two, when you meet — as it says here — a being of wicked nature, or a being of bad nature, then to them you should hold those beings with wicked nature more dearly to you, like finding a jewel treasury. In that way you hold them dearly to you. So the fourth line: “When seeing a being of wicked nature who is overwhelmed by violent wrong and afflictions, I shall hold dear this one so hard to find, as though discovering a precious treasure.”
So the wicked nature of beings, which according to this text, means those who haven’t accumulated merit in their past lives. So as a story, there was one in the past — a person was offered a.
So the being of wicked nature — as it is explained in this text, giving one example — is like someone being offered, what is it, a meat dish, and the person enjoys it. And then later his mouth gets burned by eating the dish. And then because of that, he throws up all that he ate, and he also throws all the plates away. And then later, again, he says, I want some more of the same thing, even though it’s hot, it’s burning my lips.
So that type of person is regarded as a being of wicked nature. So beings of wicked nature are like those who accumulate heavy negative karma, or like those who engage in the act of killing, like butchers. And similarly, those who go through severe illness, like different heavy diseases. So when you come to meet these types of beings, you shouldn’t ignore them, but hold them dearly. So similarly, as an example, if someone is having a leprosy disease, then if you do encounter that person, you shouldn’t ignore the person, but you should hold him or her dearly. So when we meditate on bodhicitta, we first meditate compassion towards sentient beings and love towards sentient beings. And we think — we observe those sentient beings who are going through great sufferings, like the sentient beings of the hell realms and other sentient beings who are going through sufferings. We observe them and meditate compassion toward them.
So we observe those suffering sentient beings. But then if you actually meet that type of being — like one with leprosy disease — then you don’t have to visualise; that being is right in front of you, and you can directly meditate on compassion. So one should feel really happy, like finding a treasury. So once you don’t forget those beings with severe illness — even if someone comes along and says not to help or not to be with that type of person — one shouldn’t forget them. So similarly, if you happen to help a sick person and you have helped in many ways — like providing medicine, food, clothing, and so on — and later the person again doesn’t follow what you say, then again, you shouldn’t forget about helping that person.
So you shouldn’t walk away from those types of beings who are going through great sufferings. Like if you see someone who has a leprosy disease, not going close to them — just walking far away and closing your mouth or nose and walking away — once you didn’t do that. Because oneself is not sure whether that can happen to one too. So instead of walking away from them or forgetting about them, you should meditate compassion and love towards them. And similarly, meditate on the giving and taking meditation — tonglen. More like for us, we are like finding a treasury of jewels.
Yes, it is very rare or very difficult to find. So similarly, that object of compassion is also very hard to meet. So when you come to meet those types of beings who are the object of compassion, you should feel joy the same way as when finding a treasury of jewels. So meditate compassion and love towards them.
So all prosperity in the world, or all the superior beings, come about as a result of these practices. So once you engage in these practices. And he is saying he is not sure whether he has met that type of being here or not, but Geshe-la himself has met this type of being. So Geshe-la said he met a person with a cancer on his face — just a big wound where it was all across part of his face and going deep inside. And for him, it’s like — all the flesh was rotten and you could smell it in his room — almost unbearably smelly. And also, like different types of sickness which pass between flesh and skin, where if you touch them, then your skin just falls away. So when you see that type of person with that illness, then it is very hard for someone to go close to that person, or for someone to go and help that person. So once you don’t forget this type of being — and especially the people whom one is living with — relatives, friends, neighbours — once you don’t forget about them.
And especially meditate love and compassion mainly towards them too. So how we normally think is that those who are living close to one — because something goes wrong and some problem arises — we feel angry towards them and we forget about them. And when one comes to meditate compassion, one forgets those beings who are close by, but tries to find a being as an object of compassion, like looking for one far away. So especially, if you have someone whom you hate, and if you have that, then if you are trying to meditate bodhicitta, then Geshe-la said he doesn’t think you will be able to generate bodhicitta. So when we first came in here, we chanted the prayers — which is the refuge prayer.
So the line that we chanted is: to be able to benefit all sentient beings. That’s one of the lines that we chanted. And all sentient beings — which includes sentient beings around one, friends, enemies, and everyone — so in order to benefit all those sentient beings, may I achieve the fully enlightened state. That is the line that one has chanted.
So also, when Geshe-la was in Dharamsala in the northern part of India, there were many monks who were living together. So there was also one Lama who was there at that time. And he was well respected, sitting on the throne up among the crowds. And the Lama’s mother, a nun, was there too, just going around or circumambulating the place. So at that time in the crowd, while the nun was there, just to please the mother she walked through the crowd, like folding her hands and just showing that she was respecting the Lama — like showing it just to please the mother.
So it was in the crowd. She went through the crowd folding her hands and just showing to the mother that she was respecting the Lama. Just to please her. So it shouldn’t be like that. So when if one is meditating on compassion and love towards others, the one whom you hate — leaving the one in front of you but forgetting about him or her and meditating compassion or love towards someone who is very far — that is wrong. It’s not right.
So in short, in all our actions, which includes the four types of actions, one should always analyse one’s mental continuum and examine whether a delusion is arising or not. If delusions are arising then one should right away suppress it.
So there are four activities or four actions, which are: walking — like going for just a walk, or going for sightseeing — or while sleeping, or sitting. These are the four activities or four actions. So we stop here and we’ll do some question and answer. The first one is going, walking. And the second one is again like going for sightseeing, for pleasure, going for a walk in the hills or for other entertainments. And then the third one is sleeping, and then the fourth one is sitting.
So meditating on death and impermanence does help or work as an antidote towards attachment. Meditating that death is certain and the time is uncertain and so on — meditating on that reduces your attachment towards, I said, the pleasures of this life, attachment to the prosperity of saṃsāra. And then similarly, meditating on impermanence is what turns your mind away from the prosperity of saṃsāra and leads you to the path.
So leading into the path — which is the Dharma, the practice of the three scopes. So the king Langdarma was killed because the monk was holding him daily in his mind. So the person, the monk who killed Langdarma, and the king Langdarma, is not an ordinary person. So in the tantric teachings, the rightful — that is the wrathful — deities that you see — Heruka and Yamāntaka and so on — they have the wrathful aspect. And like that is what we also see as the wrathful aspect, and the reason they take the wrathful aspect is to subdue those wicked-natured sentient beings.
You said that that is the object of compassion. So that is the one which we should meditate on compassion. So one thing — for example as regards being racist — as Geshe-la gave the example: white and black. Being a racist — only because they are ignorant and acting like that. But if they analyse themselves, then after when one dies, when the person dies and takes the next rebirth, they are not sure which rebirth they are going to take, whether as black or white.
So it is only a matter of analysis. So similarly, that is what he also says — that Chinese took over Tibet and brought many harms there. But then he said, one shouldn’t feel angry towards them. They are also the object of compassion. So feeling angry is something wrong.
And for example, His Holiness the Dalai Lama himself — he thinks the Chinese are bad because they don’t give freedom to Tibet. So, after leaving this body, if he had to take rebirth as a bird in China, he might say there is no freedom in Tibet; Tibet is a part of China. What are you saying? He might say that too. So when this type of situation arises, or you meet these types of beings, then instead of feeling angry, once you realise that they are the object of compassion.
So similarly with the anti-religion people. They too, out of their ignorance, become like that. And after death, there is only one possible way that one can go. And so they need to practise Dharma and they are not doing it. So they are also the object of compassion.
So those who, from early morning to late night, are acting or bringing harm to other sentient beings — those who are always working at bringing harm to other sentient beings — they are also the object of our compassion. So compared to them, we are much better off — we don’t do those bad actions which bring harm to others. And not only that, but we practise and know the benefit of practising Dharma.
And he wants you to rejoice in this. So rejoicing in it, and then also making prayers — good wishing prayers — not one time, two times, but always making prayers. And like, the prayers come true too, and that is also what Buddha — the enlightened being — has said. So we do the dedication on page number five, and numbers eight and nine.