Bodhisattva’s way of life C5 Patience — 03 BWL

Bodhisattva's way of life C5 Patience (Geshe Doga)

Bodhisattva's way of life C5 Patience — 03 BWL

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Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.

About this talk. In this 46-minute teaching, Geshe Doga expounds Chapter 5 on patience from Śāntideva’s Bodhisattva’s Way of Life. He opens with a grounding meditation on the uncontrolled mind, using visualization of black and white light with the breath to purify delusions and cultivate compassion. The core of the session maps the terrain of anger: its two main causes (harm to loved ones and unfulfilled wishes), its destructive consequences for virtue and future lives, and why responding with anger never solves anything. Geshe then systematizes the objects of anger across eight categories—four triggered by loss and harm, four by enemies’ gain—before concluding with the antidote: patience. He emphasizes that enduring suffering with equanimity breaks anger’s grip, while worry about unmet needs only breeds delusions. Three types of patience are introduced at the end. The teaching is pitched at committed practitioners already familiar with Dharma.

So first of all, our motivation through this the sixth chapter of a guide to the Bodhisattva’s way of life by Śāntideva, I will develop the perfect patience as much as I can. And generating these motivations. So it was first start on meditation. So it is very good if you have developed that motivations of patience as I have mentioned before. But in case, still if your mind is distracted and still if you can’t hold your mind, then let us, I mean, review about that uncontrollable mind.

Like, it is this very mind that gave you suffering and pain in the past time. And also, it’s this very mind that in this very good opportunity to listen Dharma, good opportunity in your having a chance of engaging with Dharma practice, still this very mind, uncontrolled mind, destroys your practice. So we would do the breathing meditation for a while. During that meditation, you are breathing out, you should think that with your exhalations of breathing, the black ray of light passing, it carry out all your such uncontrollable mind and delusions. And then while you are while you breathe inwardly, then the visualize that you are receiving the the visualize that the white ray of light comes coming to you coming to you, and it and you are receiving the the blessings of all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. And through that blessings, the your your negativities are purifying, and your uncontrolled mind is transformed into an untainted mind or kind heart.

So we’ll do this meditation for a while. So in the last sessions, we discussed about the disadvantages of producing anger and the advantages of developing patience. So, while thinking about these two sides, one must keep in mind that the anger that we think has many disadvantages or shortcomings inside. That anger is within oneself. Regard that as within oneself, at the same time one has to regard regarding that anger as within oneself and then thinking about their disadvantages and advantages, then one comes to know that the that the one could one will come to know the right thing to do.

So one has such determination to develop patience and to eliminate that anger as much as possible. So one must one must not, I mean, just know the reality of this anger. But the more important thing is, knowing the shortcoming sides of the anger. One must try to decrease that to some extent. Knowing the advantages of patience, one is inclined to develop that.

So now the anger causes us pain and suffering. How it causes such pain Yes. It is quite natural that when we see some unhappiness to towards one’s own friends and relatives, and also when one’s own wishes are not satisfied, then in such circumstances one find mental disturbances. So, these two circumstances, the ones just I have mentioned before, are the main causes of our producing, of our generating the the anger and hatred. Hatred that that destroy the the one’s happiness in this life and also in the future lifetimes.

So we know that in that various circumstance, we produce some mental dissatisfaction. Due to that mental dissatisfaction, then we generate anger and hatred, which are the main destroyers of our happiness all the time. So, after knowing that as the main causes, one must try to make sure to not produce such a situation. So so one must consider that anger as the the the one’s own number one enemy, and then then try to develop a strong force to eliminate it. So that anger which makes your mind suffer. So the so the way to destroy that anger, we’ll discuss now.

So it is very essential to endure the the sufferings. So in all the circumstances, one must try to maintain a joyful mind. Because if you if we if one maintain that mind, then there is no place for the unhappiness mind to to produce, to arise. Therefore, when someone else makes you unhappy or disturb your happiness. You need not feel unhappy..

So the mental state is this: Because if some other persons make you unhappy, then And also in that situations, if you feel unhappy, then that is unreasonable, because that feeling of unhappiness won’t help you to achieve your purpose. So if just if you if that your that unhappiness helps you to achieve your purpose, that is good, but it is very difficult. So if you if you feel yourself unhappiness, then that will produce anger and hatred. So that anger would, instead of helping you to satisfy your wishes, it would destroy all your past virtuous actions. And give you future pain and sufferings.

So in that circumstance, when someone else causes your unhappiness, then if you find any method to not feel unhappiness, if you could apply any method to not feel unhappiness. If you could do that, then you can’t be unhappy. But if if that method is I mean, if you can’t apply that that method, then there is no reason to feel unhappy. No reason to worry about your unhappiness. Since that unhappiness state of mind is inevitable, one is helpless. So the the main point is that the So the main point is that one must not have to worry when one is not satisfied with one’s wishes.

And when one is wishes and when one’s wishes is not fulfilled. Because it is unavoidable to fulfill all one’s wishes. Since that is unavoidable and that is inevitable, there is no reason to worry about that. And also, if you worry about your unfulfilled wishes, then that would produce anger or hatred and all such delusions. And this delusion would destroy all your past virtuous actions, and it will cause obstacles to your future virtuous actions.

So, what we need to think is that when in a circumstance like some other people causes your relatives and friends to be unhappy, or those people disturb your happiness. So in that circumstance, one must not produce anger and one must know that the whether if one produce that anger, whether that helps you or not. So it is because, suppose in such situations, instead if you you make other people, if you respond to other people, if you make them unhappy, then then this won’t help your help you on fulfilling your wishes or fulfilling your happiness. So rather this would this would make your have make your, I mean, unhappy more. So so in such situations, if you produce, if you let your anger arise, then that anger would So after that, the the root text goes on the the different type of the object towards which we produce anger.

The anger produced when they produced to to us, I mean, the the other people, when they cause unhappiness to your intimates and relatives, making them unhappy and also to to you. It also produces when some others say harsh words and also when some people degrade your reputation or you. And also when Also, when other people, I mean, causes you to you to you to to your wealth or to your possessions. First one is when someone else disturbs the mental happiness of you and all your friends and relatives, then we naturally produce anger. Then also, secondly, we produce anger when we do not obtain the things, when we or our friends and relatives do not obtain the things that they are seeking for.

And also, thirdly, when some other people say harsh words to you and your relatives, then we produce anger. And also, fourthly, when other people are indirectly, I mean, degrade your reputation Now, as a counterpart of these four points, we produce another type of four angers. Firstly, when our enemies or the people we do not like, if they had pleasure and happiness, then we produce anger. And at the same time, if they receive very good things, then we produce anger. And also, if they obtain good things, we produce anger.

And also, if they receive good reputation, we will also produce anger. So the after this point, We will talk about the to develop patience when we have suffering. Antidote to anger is patience. So, in regard to that patience, there are three types of patience. They are the patience of voluntarily enduring suffering,, Then and the patience of definitely thinking about the Dharma.

Translation / བསྒྱུར།

This translation was generated using Gemini Pro 2.5 with a curated Buddhist terminology glossary and verified for register, glossary use, and absence of English leakage. The English transcript above remains the authoritative source.