Seven-Point Mind Training — 1984-11-06

Seven-Point Mind Training (Geshe Doga)

Seven-Point Mind Training — 1984-11-06

Play EpisodePause Episode

Mute/Unmute EpisodeRewind 10 Seconds1xFast Forward 30 seconds

00:00/

RSS Feed

Share

Link

Embed

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

About this talk. In this 40-minute teaching, Geshe Doga explores the eight freedoms and ten endowments—the rare conditions needed to practice Dharma—from the first point of the Tibetan Buddhist Lamrim tradition. He explains why beings in certain realms lack opportunity for spiritual practice, then systematically covers the five personal endowments (human birth, living where teachings flourish, sound faculties, avoiding heinous crimes) and five circumstantial endowments (Buddha’s presence, authentic teachings, realized practitioners as examples, spiritual teachers showing the way). Geshe Doga emphasizes recognizing this human life not merely as fortunate but as genuinely precious: it holds benefit in the short term through ethical practice, long term through the path to liberation, and even in a single moment of sincere meditation. He closes with encouragement to students to gain teaching experience so the Dharma tradition can be passed on to future generations.

The long life deva deva or the long life god, they can’t do the Dharma. They’re not positioned there because they have very poor power of discriminations. They have only I mean, two feeling that they were born and they will die or they are nearly to die. So in within that stage in within that stage, their whole life is, like, passing into beautiful sleep or so they have no opportunity to do Dharma. And the fifth freedom is to be born in a period where lord period where lord Buddha has deep teaching or lord Buddha has lord Buddha has descended in this world.

So so if we because this is also the necessary condition to do Dharma. Because if you’re not born in this period, then we can’t think of doing Dharma. And the sixth freedom is not to be born in a very remote place where there is no teaching, where there is no Lord Buddha’s teachings. So if you once born in that remote place, you need to aware as as a human being, the Buddha. Ah.

The Buddha. Yeah. No. And the the seventh freedom is not to be not to be born as not to be So, poor in understanding the Dharma. So, if we if our mind is crippled or our mind is crazy, then we can’t do the Dharma.

And if we be to be free from the wrong or the perverted view, so so we are fortunate that we have no such wrong view. The ten endowment can be put forward into two sections as as as personal endowments and circumstantial endowments. So the five personal endowments are firstly the to be born as a human being. Because the human being is the the best physical base for for doing the the right dharma. So so to do the dharma, the it is necessary to endow with this form.

And secondly, to be to born in a place to to be born in the the in the middle place or in a place where the dharma flourishes. Then thirdly, the not having any damage in our faculties or sense organs. That means not having such damage from the time of our from right from the time of birth. And then not having done any of the five heinous crimes. Because if once if if having done any of this crime, then it is very difficult to do, difficult to obtain these liberations.

Five heinous crimes are not having killed one’s own father or mother, any arhat or any person who has obtained liberation and then not having done such actions, having done injury to the Buddha’s body or doing schisms among the monks community. So these five points are personal endowments because this condition should be possessed by one self. So it’s called personal endowments. So the the the five circumstantial endowments are firstly, descent of lord Buddha in this world and and born in a time where what Buddha has gives the teachings. Because even if Lord Buddha come in this world, I mean, if he didn’t give any teaching, then then we lack such condition to do Dharma.

So so the the we should go in a time where Lord Buddha gives the teaching. And also, to be born in a time where the the teaching of the Lord Buddha exists. And also to to follow as an example to born in a time where where the when the in which the the the practitioner of Lord Buddha’s teachings exist. And also having the any other religious practitioner who has compassion upon you and who show you the the right way, who show you give you the the generosity and so on. So the the the next part of this, five endowments are called circumstantial endowments or other endowments because these conditions are I mean, comes comes from the out or from the the condition from externals.

So together with this, the eight freedom and ten endowments, then the the added conditions or the added precious conditions to do the perfect dharma. So we are very fortunate to possess such rare conditions to do the dharma. So is so not just I mean, thinking that I mean, we have that conditions, but we have to realize that condition as a very precious. So to listen to, acting on these conditions, You have to think about these and see whether knowing these liberating conditions and recognizing its precious. It helps you to turn your mind toward the Dharma practice or not.

But so up so after I mean, recognizing the the preciousness of this human rebirth, then one has to know the value or the value of this rebirth. So this human rebirth has a very great value that it has a value which benefits you in a very long time period and also in a very short time period and even in a very single moment. So the temporary or the short term period benefits that you can get from this human rebirth as to be born in three higher realms, the human being and God and demigod like this. You could do many virtuous things in this human rebirth. So it has a value in a short term period benefits.

This is because the the the short term benefit the short term benefit, I mean, to be born in any of the three higher the main causes is to engage in ethical practice or Vinaya. So in this human form, could achieve the Vinaya practice. And also to to become a very rich in the next lifetime or to become prosperous or to have a very physical looks in the next lifetime. The right causes is the doing the the practice of the general generosity and patience and so on. So we could do such practice in this human form.

And the long term benefit can be gained benefit or the ultimate goal can also be achieved in this human rebirth once if it’s So this is because the the main path to achieve the the the nirvana or the liberation is the the threefold training, the morality, concentration, and wisdom practice. So if we could do this, these three, the practice on these three in in these physical forms. This is because the main causes to accomplish this highest enlightenment is practicing on the union of method and wisdom. So the method is the bodhicitta, compassion and love and so on. And the wisdom is the knowledge of emptiness or the understanding of emptiness.

So these two wisdom and method we could we could do, we could obtain in this lifetime. So it has also the value of obtaining this the ultimate goal. So so even from the point of even one very single moment, this human form is very worth I mean, worthful. Because if we do, even in a very single moment, we can take the value of this life. In a in a you do the meditation even in a very single moment, so it is very remarkable in the in the future.

So the you must have to you must have to clearly know the how the the how we can make use of the value of this life in a moment. This is because, generally, we all think that only if we have a long time, only if we have enough time, then we could do such Dharma or spiritual practice. But when we think that within a very short period, we can’t do any such practice. So the point is that one can take the value of this life even in a very single minute. So as if we do the meditation or if we try to generate the bodhicitta or compassion in a even in a minute, that will be very worthful.

And that doing that practice in a very short period would benefit you in a very long period, in in a later period of your life or in next life. So so the the main reasons or the main purpose of knowing the the value of this life is that that that that we should try to not spend this life. I mean, waste this life for nothing. If you know the these qualities of this human body and also its precious and its value and having obtained the what comes, having obtained this perfect human rebirth and so on, then automatically you would engage in the special practice. This is like I mean, if a businessman businessman will work very hard only on some specific purpose or business, only if he sees some benefit or gains from that business.

So, if you see that benefit, then he works hard. So, like that, if you see the value and the precious of this life, then you would use this body in a right way. So, we have finished on the recognition of this perfect human rebirth and its value. So the the third point is the the difficulty of obtaining this perfect human rebirth. I hope most of you have listened to the dharma many times before still, but you must think about such point again and again, and also especially the stages.

Remind those eighteen points and such the stages of mind how it comes. Keep aware of these things so that your listening of Dharma and your understanding of Dharma would help you in your meditation or also it would sometimes benefit other If the time comes that you give the teaching that you know and understand, you listen, then you benefit others. So that after after some years, I mean, the student of this this center can give the could give the teachings to everybody and who is interested in Buddhisms. And and and also the the student can give communicate the Dharma more perfectly as we do since the communication is better. But for that, hope that especially someone the student with good intention or something like that, put more effort on such things.

So it is important to any of these students to to have experience in giving teachings. It’s possible that at the beginning, he can’t be so perfectly, but it is important so that he will become perfect gradually. Although, when he first I mean, first when he first plan to come to Australia to to give the teaching in this to any center, he has such an idea that after long I mean, giving the teachings to the to the to the students to his students, then he has a hope he hoped that that he he wished to give the teaching give the complete knowledge of his teaching. And when he leaves and when he leaves, he wished that that any of students or some or some student may hold, I mean, what he has given in that long period. So so that, I mean, they can represent him in when he lived.

But, unfortunately, I mean, he couldn’t do that because he was not remaining one center, just transferred from one center to another center. So he is unfortunate on not having done that. So he thinks it’s important especially for the the officer in these centers to have such plans. That in future, I mean, the the student can perfectly give the teachings so that the center will improve.

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.