Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 96-minute session on Lama Tsongkhapa’s Three Principal Aspects of the Path, Geshe Kyab covers the foundational structure and practical meaning of the three core principles: renunciation, bodhicitta (mind of enlightenment), and correct view (emptiness). He opens with the renunciation section, explaining that these three principles distil the entire Lamrim (graduated path to enlightenment) into essential teachings. Geshe Kyab emphasizes that renunciation begins small—attending teachings weekly, cultivating daily practice—and builds gradually into genuine detachment from worldly concerns. He uses concrete examples: the suffering concealed by attachment (citing marriage and famous divorces), the habits that trap us in saṃsāra, and the power of establishing even a fifteen-minute daily routine. He also discusses consciousness and perception in Buddhist psychology, compares Buddhist philosophy favourably to science, and reflects on his own adaptation to Western culture. The talk concludes with questions on attachment (especially to teachers and loved ones), emphasis on balance and impermanence meditation, and a dedication prayer. Pitched at practitioners new to Buddhist study as well as those already familiar with renunciation practice.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 2016 09 27.mp3
UUID: 7d7fb555-aaec-43b2-8917-0522afa70992
Teacher: Geshe Kyab
Collection: Geshe Kyab Three Principal Aspects (Geshe Kyab)
Date: 2016-09-27
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 96.0 minutes
Words: ~10,044
Good evening, everyone. Good evening. It’s good? Page thirty four, please. I go for refuge until I am enlightened to the Buddha, the Dharma, Sangha, and so forth.
By the practice of giving and other perfections, may I become a Buddha for the benefit of all sentient beings. May all sentient beings have happiness and the causes of happiness. May all sentient beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering. May all sentient beings be inseparable from the happiness that is free from suffering. May all sentient beings abide in equanimity, free from attachment for friends, hatred, enemies.
Seven Limb Prayer. Reverently, I prostrate with my body, speech, and mind. I present clouds of every type of offering actually arranged. I disclose all my negative actions committed since beginningless time. Rejoice in the merit of all holy and ordinary beings.
Please remain until the end of cyclic existence. Turn the wheel of dharma for living beings. Dedicating my own merits and those of all others to create enlightenment. Short mandala offering. This ground, anointed with incense, strewn with flowers, adorned with Mount Meru, the four continents, and the sun and the moon, imagining this as a Buddha field, I offer it.
May all living beings enjoy this pure land. Now we will do the mantra. Thank you. Teaching is the three principal aspects of the path by Lama Tsongkhapa. I will review a little bit.
Some of you maybe missed the last class. The three principal aspects of the path. This is one of the most important teaching one can learn and practice, meditate, so then eventually achieve enlightenment. Although this one is called the three principles. Generally speaking, everything in Tibetan we call Lamrim.
Lam means the path, Rim means the stages. So, there are many, many, many Lamrim books. Lama Tsongkhapa’s great Lamrim book, Stages to Enlightenment. There are Lamrim also the another Lam Tsongkhapa’s Lamrim, middle Lamrim. So, Pabongka Rinpoche’s Lamrim is Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand.
There are many, many. So, Lamrim, lam is the path, rim means stages. Especially the Lama Tsongkhapa’s, that great Lamrim stages to enlightenment, three volumes. All these three volumes because of the three volumes, and this also divided three categories of the students. First one is the small capacity of student, then second one is the moderate, third one is the great capacity.
So, three students, three different teachings, but it doesn’t mean that it’s in contradictory, you know, each other, but these are the very much the skillful means, very much great method when Lama Tsongkhapa was teaching us. First one is the more the teachings you know, to person of small capacity, then moderate, then great capacity. So that’s a summary. But then this particular three principles actually do have everything here. You know.
We don’t talk about the more details as a great lamrim, but generally speaking, the three principles do have a same sort of, you know, quality or the teachings as great Lamrim. But everything is dependent on how teacher teaches. I think this class I will going to do maybe until September is finishing, now October, maybe November. So, I will check with the SPC. So, we talk about this particular class, know.
Although, you know, not so many verses, but anyway, it’s depending how you, you know, expand the teachings, how much you give them details. So everything depends on that. I can finish this within one class also or I can finish this in a few months. It depends on how you describe the teachings. Anyway, the three principles, some of you maybe didn’t hear this before.
The first principle is the renunciation, which is the last week we did talk about, a little bit about the renunciation. Second one is the mind of enlightenment, which is the bodhicitta in Sanskrit. And third one is the right or correct view, which is mostly the emptiness, all about the emptiness or voidness, different translations. But now, we are first chapter or first verse, which is the renunciation that last week we had a little bit about this one. So, Renunciation is also, as I mentioned, there are different levels of renunciation.
Of course, eventually, the fully renunciation of course is that you must give up eight worldly concerns or dharma. So that’s what you need to give up. In order to give up eight worldly dharma or concerns, then we need to start, you know, like a small way, which is supposed to be starting already, I think. So this is the one thing as I mentioned last week, I mean it actually, just coming to the Buddha house at least once a week, also the, you know, small part of the renunciation. I’m not saying when you come to the Buddha house, listen to the teachings, now you already, you know, give up all eight worldly concerns.
That is not my point. But when you come to the Buddha house, listen to the teachings at least once a week, you are learning something. You cannot just give up outwardly concerns, which is the fully renunciation. You know, you cannot do that. You need to start.
So that’s why starting is the just coming to Buddha House, listening to the teachings. Then now gradually, you know, like a baby steps, gradually, then I think you will going to get some kind of a senses inside here, you know, kind of a oh, then you will understand, as I mentioned also in my on my Sunday class, these all are what we call dharma mirror. It’s like a mirror, you know. As I said also, the mirror is very important. If you do have something on your face, without mirror you cannot fix it.
So because of the reflection that, you know, when you see on your mirror on your face, you can fix whatever problem you have in your face or your body. Otherwise, how can you see, without a mirror? Similar to Dharma, it’s the real, real mirror. When you learn Dharma teachings, you can see all the falls and all goodness, everything you will going to see. You will understand it.
Also, you would know what should be discarded and what should be cultivated. Mean, what should be taken, what should be avoided, what is the negative, what is the positive. So you will going to learn all these teachings. So that’s why the Dharma teachings are called the Dharma mirror, which is very important. But if you have no Dharma teachings, then you wouldn’t see the falls, you wouldn’t see what should be discarded and what should be cultivated because there is no Dharma mirror.
So that’s why just coming to the center, can learn even though not that much, but you can learn a little bit, which is great. I mean, you know, that’s a starting. I mean, you can learn something. You can learn that and you can contemplate, next contemplate, then you can practice, meditate. So this way, gradually one day you can able to cut out all eight worldly concerns.
But right, just you cannot just cut out outwardly concerns, just just, you know, one or twice or meditate. You cannot do that. As I mentioned before, since the beginningless time until today, we have gone through so many habits. Many bad habits. Karmic tendencies or sometimes translated karmic propensity, which is actually the karmic imprint.
Know, life to life, life to life. We carry on karmic imprint. Then when you take life, all these results will be appear when you meet the conditions. Again, we accumulate new negative karma. Then again, we carry on that negative karma when we pass away from this life.
Then next lifetime, again, you know, all the negative results appear. So that’s kind of, you know, cycling means that Korva, It’s sometimes up, sometimes like this down. Cycles like this. But it doesn’t matter how much we, you know, cycles, we are inside saṃsāra, which is the cyclic existence. Because of these contaminated five aggregates, which I mentioned last class, because of this contamination of five aggregates, we are continually sometimes up, sometimes down, cycling like this.
Even though human body is such precious, we obtain such a precious human body which is very, very difficult to obtain. Also, only just the human body we obtain, also really, this is eight leisures and ten freedoms. It’s very difficult to obtain. I give you an example. Remember that tortoise, blind tortoise?
So, that means we need to do something, you know, such a wonderful life we obtained. We need to do something, otherwise waste it. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t be working, you shouldn’t be going to your office or or company wherever you go to work. That’s not my point. Of course, these are our livelihood.
We need to do that. We need to support our own life, so it’s the friend or children, family. We need to do that. But, you know, also the same time, also, if you do little bit, practice, you know, both samsaric side and the spiritual side. Very important.
Why is important to Dharma? Which is Dharma and spirituality? Dharma is very, very important. Not a religion perspective, but a philosophy perspective, a psychological perspective, or if you’re really a very strong religious person, of course, then religion. Very, very important.
Why? Especially here is the Buddhist teachings. Very important. Science cannot give you every answer, but Buddhism does it. Yeah, Buddhism does.
Buddhism gives you most of the answers. Science cannot give you, you know, every answer if you ask, especially when consciousness comes, you know, dealing with consciousness, then science stops there. Science can give you the answers, something they can see, they can touch, then they can give you the answers. But there is more than just seeing and touch. Buddhist perspective, there are so many things we cannot see, we cannot touch, but there would be many existences exist.
So, especially the consciousness, just think about consciousness. Mind is very difficult to describe. Of course you cannot see it, you cannot touch the mind and consciousness, but you can really explain about the mind. But that’s why Buddhist philosophy is very, very unique, you know. As I just mentioned last week, when we talk about the contaminated five aggregates, last one is the consciousness.
Fifth aggregate is the consciousness. When I describe the consciousness a little bit, as I mentioned, the eyes consciousness ears, tongue, body, and mental. Just for the eye consciousness, if you look at the eye consciousness itself only, of course, there wouldn’t be eye consciousness without any causes and conditions. But how eye consciousness appears, how eye consciousness functions. But in order to function eye consciousness, you need first object.
First condition is the object is very important. Let’s see here is this beautiful flower yellow, you know. This is the first thing is the object as any object, but I’m just giving you the example. This yellow flower consider here is the object. When when you don’t look at the yellow, first, you cannot see the yellow.
First, you need to you need connection, you need to contact. First, you know, in order to function eye consciousness, seeing yellow, first you need object condition. And second thing is you need this eye sense power. Eye sense power looks like a mirror. This yellow color must be reflected into this, what looks like a mirror.
Then next to the mirror, eye consciousness. Then eye consciousness functions. Then now we call this eye consciousness see the yellow object. When eye consciousness sees the yellow object, then we call I saw yellow object which, you know, this yellow object, but still eye consciousness does not understand the yellow object, just seeing. That’s it.
But next to the eye consciousness, it’s called immediate condition helps and sends signal to mental. Then now mental, oh, that yellow object is the flower. It’s a flower, not just the yellow belongs to Geshe la’s roof. Are particularly we are focusing this particular yellow okay. That is a yellow color object is the flower That’s mental understands.
When mental understands, I understood. I understand. I comes there. I’m just giving you only the eye consciousness. See how many process gone through.
But, of course, all this goes very fast like this. You know? We have no time to think, oh, first is reflect here, then next to the eye consciousness. Then after immediate con condition, send signal to the mental, then mental understands because there’s no way we can able to really separate. But there are so many process before you understand this yellow belongs to flower.
There are so many process already gone through. But this is the one thing Buddhist described, these things. It’s very much scientific way. Same thing, you can apply this for the ear consciousness also. So it’s the nose, tongue, body.
I have a problem for because my nose consciousness is very, very strong. I can smell very far away. Something is somebody’s cooking, I can smell here because my nose consciousness is very, very strong. But sometimes this strong is also a problem because I cannot smell perfume or strong odors, like mostly sweet ones, from the shampoos and scents, sometimes incense. That’s another problem.
Even though my nose consciousness is strong, is good, sometimes not so good because once I smell it, I get a migraine attack. So that’s why I’m all that I’m escaping from those perfumes. I cannot have scented detergent for laundry. I cannot have that. And also the strong incense makes me headache.
But generally speaking, having a strong nose consciousness is good. Today, Linda cooked me soup And inside the car, I can smell. I mean, it’s good actually, you know, but sometimes not so good having strong nose consciousness. Point is the nose consciousness that the smell, that kind of, you know, whatever is it, it’s from incense, that’s an object, same thing, object. Object reflects into nose sense power, similar like an eye sense power.
Then next to the nose sense power, nose consciousness, then you can smell. You can have this odor, whatever it is. Then after that, condition sends signal to mental saying, oh, that smell from the incense, especially the Indian incense, that’s mental understand. But not nose consciousness. Nose consciousness, just job is finished, just smell.
That’s it. Mental consciousness can understand that smell odor from the strong Indian incense. Then I get headache. Uh-oh, now, you know, see? Little superstition too.
So sometimes everything is mixed there, you know? So if you look at that perspective, it is unbelievable on this Indian great Buddhist master. So it’s the Tibetan great Buddhist master. They didn’t have any computers, and, you know, and and before, they didn’t have even though a microscopy. How you call this one?
Microscope. They didn’t have those things, but still they can able to describe all these things so beautifully. I mean, what would be those the era and two thousand years before if if there were computers? I think nowadays, they it’s a great thing. I mean, you know?
But, anyway, I think sometimes mental is the more than a computer. See, here is it is hard drive, you know, similar like a computer hard. This is more than just the external computer’s hard drive. This hard drive is much stronger than any hard drive. So I think so but we have this great mind or mental or consciousness, especially the mental or mind one, which I call it a great hard drive.
But the problem is it’s great, the problem is same as like so many viruses now. Surrounded by so many viruses, look at the computer hard drive. When you get some you know, viruses, then computer gets slowed down. Isn’t it hard to function? You need what do you call that?
These antiviruses. You need to buy a Notron or I think it’s kind of a soft you need to buy to clean. But similar to that, this mind is very much, you know, almost similar like a so many viruses. So but that’s why the all these teachings, all these antidotes, all these teachings consider as antiviruses antivirus software so they can clean the you know, all of these mental, you know, afflictions or sometimes afflict afflictive emotions. There are many different translations.
Sometimes they are called defilement. Sorry. There’s many, many different translations. Tibetan, we call it nyön mong, only one. For English translation, defilement, delusions, sometimes mental affliction, sometimes afflictive emotion.
You just name it. That’s English words. So, the point is that all these viruses are within our mental state, so that’s why all these meditation and teachings, learning and studying and contemplating meditation, practicing, are meant to be purifying antivirus, remember? Then our mind runs very fast. Otherwise, we get angry very, very easily.
Even the little, very little you know, words, sometimes people get angry very quickly. By the way, today I watch the American debate between Donald Trump and, you know, remember, I’m American citizen. I must watch. You know? I need to vote, although I’m going to vote Hillary Clinton.
You know? Absolutely. I’m going to vote that. But just curiosity, watch and what he was saying. Now you can see the of course, little of course, there’s a lot of politics.
You can see the Donald Donald Trump’s temper. You can see that very easily. For our side, he really know it, but you can see that very easily like that because of the his mind is totally the all these mental afflictions, all these, you know, viruses there. Here, Clinton seemed to be calm even though he was interrupting, but maybe she was just pretending to be calm, I don’t know. But she seems to be much calmer today.
So I’m so happy for that. Anyway, this little American, how you say, sense of humor, you know. Anyway, the point is this mental, such a powerful mental, we obtain the human mind. But unfortunately, so many viruses. So many viruses.
So that’s why we need these strong teachings starting by this renunciation, which is as I mentioned before. Without renunciation, there is no way we can be able to accomplish anything. For instance, people go to work, You know? Why they do that? They give up.
Of course, we all like to you know, many people like to sleep until nine AM and ten AM. I like to sleep too, but I don’t. For instance, people need to go to work, so that’s why even in the early morning, even though they really feel not pleasure to go to work, but they have no choice. They must give up their pleasure, go to work, to make money, support themselves and their family. See, there are something you need to give up, isn’t it?
Otherwise, you cannot have luxury life. I have not mentioned here that my flat is inside, you know. In Florida, my flat is near this big road, but you cannot hear that. But every morning I walk, I can see on the road people are like this. Every morning, five thirty, six like this.
I was like, wow, my job is much easier, you know. I don’t need to drive all like this and rush hour. Every morning people are so angry, you know, because especially the Monday morning is the worst thing. But they have no choice. They must give up this little pleasure, you know, in order to gain something.
But now, when they gain something, but those gaining things are only for one lifetime benefit. Otherwise, next life, doesn’t matter how much money and wealth you have. It’s nothing finished. I remember in Austria, Europe, one time, not so many years ago, one businesswoman or man died. And I don’t know, maybe that person didn’t have any relatives, but he or she put down on her will one dog.
Everything is given to the dog. I don’t know how many million euros. That I was saying, wow. Of course, I mean, you cannot judge people, but if he helped this money to poor people, of course, a dog also needs, you know. But one dog, multi million euros?
What can you do? Point is to see, she cannot, you know, carry on that money when she passed away. But now that’s why she give it to the dog. That’s my point here. But this kind of a teaching not only make you happy within this lifetime, in the future life also, you will have a wonderful life.
So even though you give up something, it’s very different, you know. So, this kind of teaching, you really need to give up a certain time to practice. Make a routine daily basis. Morning, get up a little earlier, do some meditations, or do do say some mantras. How beautiful.
Then even you go to work. If if you’re working, your work will be beautiful. There is a one woman in in Switzerland. She is a doctor. She was a doctor, but I don’t know about nowadays.
She used to be a student of my teacher, Geshe Kachen. Told me, when I was in Switzerland, she told me every morning she does the prayer of Ārya Tārā, she does so many meditations. Since then, she does some, you know, operation, brain operation like that. She told me, since she started doing this meditation, praying to Ārya Tārā, which is the female Buddha, and her surgery much better. She was much calmer and also she told me she never lost any single person.
Before that, there are some, you know, she went, of course, it was not her mistake, but, you know, there were some people who died under her on the operation table. But she told me, she said, well, she she drinks a lot of coffee. Like this much. I would be like that. How much coffee are drinking?
Oh, I was just nervous. I need it. Doesn’t eat that much but drinks so much coffee. I think that helps her to wake up, I think. My point is that even though you go to work every morning, if you do some prayers, some meditations, that will be wonderful when you go to work.
And you will get with your coworkers you have some positive energy there. See, now my point, what I’m making here is to give up a little bit to do something good. That’s my point here. See? Coming to the center and doing some meditations, daily basis, make a routine.
It’s very important. We are sometimes very much lazy, you know. Laziness is the big problem for a meditator. Main problem. Oh, I will do maybe tomorrow.
Tomorrow comes, maybe I will do, oh, today I just watch television or go somewhere, or I will do this practice tomorrow. Tomorrow comes same thing, again tomorrow. They’re never gonna be in that. When you feel to do something, just right away, leave everything, give up, just do it. Then good.
Then you know sometimes this builds up wonderful positive habit. Otherwise, tomorrow, then next time, tomorrow, then tomorrow, tomorrow like this. Of course it’s very important to make a routine. Habit is very important. Remember, habit is the most problem, not only just you, sometimes me too.
Habit is the main problem, you know. So that part is that we must be thinking very seriously. Habit to drink, habit to smoke, habit to say some bad things, very easy. Even though, you know, those people may have no bad motivation, but because of the bad habits, sometimes when they talk, they talk so many bad things, and their doing things are, you know, behavior is very different than others. Those people can be wonderful human beings, possible, but because of their habits sometimes, you know, they hurt themselves and they hurt others.
For instance, for me, smokes, that’s going to be a disaster. I cannot have this smell in my nose. When I smell something, I just do it like this. I have a big, big problem with allergy. One time in Sikkim near the Sikkim in Siliguri, one restaurant my brother-in-law took me there but people were smoking inside the restaurant.
Then we move another table, same, you know, because of this smell coming there. But anyway, we already ordered the food, we ate it. I’m not kidding you. Next day until almost a full week, I had no voice. Gone.
I couldn’t talk like this because of the allergy. It’s very strange. It never happened in my life before. So I’m saying, wow. I must be very careful.
You know, somebody just getting headache is still okay. You can take pills. But now what can you do? You have no voice. But I already scheduled some teachings to teach some laypeople there, but now I don’t know the hand signal how to do, you know, all these things.
If I do know, then I can do so. But then I went there, just put one letter, I wrote down some meditation. Today, this one, I have no voice. I couldn’t talk. Nothing here.
See, now that person did not those people who smoke, they could be good people, but they hurt me. They hurt many people. See now? They hurt me because I couldn’t talk. I couldn’t teach.
So that means people who didn’t have my teachings also indirectly hurt them. So see, it’s just, you know, sometimes people do things, of course, but you cannot judge people, you cannot just tell people not to smoke. But my point is that smoking and drinking really must be balanced. It’s very important to make a balance or smoke, but smoke where there are no people, I think. But, anyway, it’s difficult to really make a balance sometimes.
The point is the habit is the main issue, habit. We must build positive habit. How to eat during the eating, what to do before you eat, blessing things. I’m not talking about the Buddhist way of blessing. Even though other religions do bless their food.
I mean, if you do make certain habit daily based, so this goes continually, which is wonderful. I mean, you know, for instance, here we all do like this. It’s all habit. It’s beautiful, making this mudra, you know, respect. But this is just habit because we do it every day here, so then automatically we all do it.
We don’t need a really great effort to do this mudra. Why? Because of the habit. It’s a good habit. Something like that.
Small way, you know, if you do smoke, smoke, but smoke a little bit less than before. So, the next time, a little bit less. This way, then one day, give up. So, that’s another small renunciation. When you give up the secret, I’m just giving you an example, it’s good for your health, good for the public.
How beautiful. Then you’re helping others. You are not only just helping yourself. You are helping others too. How beautiful.
So that’s that’s, mean, bringing some peace in this world. Also, small part of the, you know, your contribution. So, see, routine. Repeat again. Make a routine daily base.
And have these kind of teachings. Do these meditations. Try to understand the core of teaching, then do it on daily basis. Then tomorrow comes, you like to do it again. Day after tomorrow comes, same thing.
Then, you know, this is going to be your positive habit. How beautiful. Just a short period of time. I’m not saying hour or two hours, absolutely not. Even though it could be fifteen minutes, fine, Or half an hour, absolutely good.
One hour, best. You know, small. Small, small, I mean short, short time. If you put this habit, your life will be changed. This is the life changing one, absolutely.
So, it’s much if you wake up earlier morning, it’s much better for your mind because earlier morning means everything is new, everything is fresh. Even though look at the trees and flowers and grass, early morning looks so beautiful, isn’t it? It’s green and beautiful, little water sometimes. But after the sun, you know, rises, then everything dries up. See?
That’s why morning also air is much cleaner every morning. You can breathe that air also. Do some breathing meditation. How beautiful. So that’s what we need to do If you really do have an enthusiasm to achieve enlightenment, we need to do something.
As I mentioned before, such a beautiful human life. We all got it. But now, something we need to do. You know, it’s difficult to do, same as monks and nuns. But you can do something.
Absolutely you can do it. I knew some of my students in Florida, wonderful practitioners, even though they are family, many, many friends, but they kept some time to practice. We’ve got to practice, otherwise practice will not come to us. We need to practice. Okay?
Not like, you know, Buddhist practice is the individual. Individual must practice. You shouldn’t be just waiting, Oh, I will practice tomorrow or a day after tomorrow. No, no, no. That is not the way you should be practicing.
Practice means every moment is practice time. There is no really separate time for the practice. Every moment, much as we are taking this breath in and out, in and out, we must practice. Why? Because every time we are breathing, we are getting a little bit older, little bit older, little bit older, near to death.
See? Same thing every moment we need to practice. So, now, when I say practice, many people do misunderstand sometimes. Practice and act of the practice is very different. First, repeat again.
You need to listen to the teaching. Then think about teaching constantly. Then now, meditate. Then, apply. But practice is the when I say practice, mostly you need to control the negative emotions.
Just meditating for hours is wonderful, but you have to check it out, your mental state, how much really you are calm, how much peace, how much you control negative emotions when they are arising. So, the real practice is that you need to apply the antidotes. Absolutely. Otherwise, just reciting the prayers, meditating, listening to the teachings, wonderful! I’m not saying good, but these are not real practice.
Real practice is the absorbing the teachings, then now really applying the teachings when things fall apart. So, this is the point as I mentioned before. If you do that, then you can be your own psychologist. Means that because you do apply the teachings when things fall apart in your life. That’s called practitioners.
So, that practice can be done many different ways. Some people do great practice, some people do moderate practice, some people do small practice. That’s fine. Doing practice is very important. Everything is your own capacity, your own abilities.
I don’t know. Much as you do practice, that much you will be much happier. Beginning a little bit, how I say, the discomfort when you practice because of all these cultural things and everything that we call practice is very different than Westerner practice. Tibetan, you know, Dharma practices are very, very different. Beginning maybe a little discomfort, discomfort.
It’s okay. No problem. For instance, when I came to United States, it wasn’t easy for me even though I do practice in monasteries. But then now, culture tradition in United States is very different than Tibetan tradition. Now one monk, one geshe living in Florida, by so many westerners.
Just imagine how difficult. But I’m saying, yeah, no problem. They are human beings. I’m a human being. We have different culture and Of course, I must absorb their culture and attitudes first.
If I don’t, I should not be here. That’s I I I promise myself. I must leave. Then I absorbed the United States culture and tradition, how talk, you know, even though I bought one book, plain language, you know, read hip hop kind of a because sometimes you need it, you know, what can you do? You have no choice.
Sometimes when you talk to people, some people, you need to talk as how they talk to you. Otherwise, you cannot reach people. Oh, I put so much effort. Nowadays, I’m laughing. Wow.
You know? It was it was an easy beginning, but I try to absorb the the, you know, United States culture and it they have beautiful culture and tradition. Of course, they have some culture and traditions are not good. It’s it’s same as, like, any cult any countries. You know?
I absorbed that. Then my life is much, much better and I feel much comfortable. But, beginning a few years, my life is like hell, really. It was very difficult. People talk and I am just sitting there saying it was so much uncomfortable, you know.
But because my English wasn’t good as now, of course, I need to learn, you know. But do speak English, but the United States English is very, you know, rough, you know, like very rough. But I tried to catch. I had one book. Every time people talk, just write down and write down Tibetan.
I had two or three books like this written down, written down, because I need to learn now some of the words because the problem is the vows in the United States. Maybe same as here, a, a, I, o, u. Big problem. Sometimes a can be e, a can be u. There’s no definite.
Tibetan culture is the a is all the time, e is all the time, e sound I’m talking here. Same as like a Spanish culture. That’s why Spanish I can speak Spanish very quickly, really. I couldn’t get the chance to learn. But United States, a e I o u is totally changes sometimes, you know, sound.
A, sometimes they talk about e, and sometimes o. It’s very strange. So that make me very confusing, you know, When I try to be sound a as a but there’s a no. Geshe-la, you need to this sound must be e or something. But then e, why you put a here?
Then must be put e. And there’s no answers, you know. Geshe la, you cannot ask these questions. No, but I will ask. Why you put a here then?
Should be e if you need e sound. But then when you put e, sometimes it sounds like e. See? It’s very difficult to absorb those things, but I tried all my best, you know, which is after two years, beginning of three years, I feel much comfortable. Then now I know how to handle things, how to say it, but it wasn’t easy.
Same as like, you know, now you need little patience, which is my weapon. Patience, tolerance, forgiveness. These are the three weapons I had it. And I and that’s why, you know, I was successful there. But now same thing, you need patience, tolerance, forgiveness, try to try to absorb the teachings and this particular, you know, how to practice the teachings, which I’m just telling you now.
So then, someday, it will be much easier for you, especially the Buddha house. There were so many lamas and resident geshes and the campus, so the visitor teachers came here. I think center is very, very blessed. So many teachers. Linda just showed me so many cassettes, teachings by Lama Zopa Rinpoche.
Unbelievable. I mean, he is one of the great senior lama in our monastery. He taught so many teachings, you know. Think Buddha House is really blessed. Where do you want to go beside such a beautiful center like this?
For me, course, in the beginning I hesitated to come here, but now I’m really enjoying, you know, such a wonderful people here in Adelaide. Beautiful, wonderful, but I was gobsmacked. Unbelievable. They are so wonderful and so much in the effort and and and doing things for the center and the people. It’s not easy.
I know center is not easy. I was at TKCC for fifteen years. I saw so many the sorrows and pain. It’s not easy to be, you know, maintaining center to go continually, constantly, continually door open. It’s not easy.
Many, volunteers. Unbelievable. It’s so so kind. Your contributions are unbelievable. This is the another kind of renunciation, giving up.
You give up your time, come here, open the center, cleaning the center, and altar set up. Whoever does whatever is here, unbelievable. I think this is great, especially in Westerners. Of course, Tibetan, this is our gene. We have this, we do.
But Westerners, these are very new. But still, you take these things very seriously. For me, that’s unbelievable, Really. When I talked to my mother, was very much, Oh, they do this kind of thing. I said, Of course!
Wow, it’s great! And she was just like, her hand was like this. She was very respecting. Oh, so great, so great! I think when Buddha was alive, although, you know, so fortunate those people who, you know, who were in Buddha’s time, who were born in Buddha’s time, very, very lucky and they hear the teachings from the Buddha unbelievable.
But I think when Buddha was alive, so many monks, so many monasteries, he was there for the people. But now Buddha left, Buddha gone two thousand five hundred fifty three years before. But still, people do this practice. I think this is important for me to be more fortunate, more merits, more positive than when Buddha was alive and having teachings, listening the teachings from him. Think because this is the degeneration.
Remember, time is degenerating, but still we all put effort together here, try to make some you know, good, try to do some good things to bring peace in this world. I think this merit can be the more merits than when Buddha was alive. That’s I think. I could be wrong, could be right because of it, it’s not easy, especially the degeneration time, you know. So that’s why do practice.
Make a time even though it’s a little bit. Fifteen minutes, half an hour is okay. Make a time every day Or even though you couldn’t get up early in the morning, but do it after sunrise. It’s okay. But just make a certain time.
Make this nice habit. Then, after a few months, after come to me, let me know the answer. You will be much, much happier. Please say some mantras. Especially, now this particular book, practice renunciation.
Okay? Try to practice renunciation in a small way. Then I think one day you will be really surprised yourself if you look back after a few years. Your own thoughts, your own habit, if you look back a few years back and now, how much change? See, that is the call, the changing from negative to positive.
That’s the benefit of coming to the Buddha house. That’s the benefit of practicing yourself. So is the practice of renunciation. Okay, now I will give you ten minutes break. Go ahead.
Okay. Now please look at the page of this textbook. Chapter number three. The purpose of generating renunciation. So that one is the without the complete intention definitely to be free from cycling, there is no way to specify attachment seeking pleasurable effects in the ocean of cycling.
Also, craving for cyclic existence, bodied beings are continuously bound. Therefore, at the very beginning, seek renunciation. So, this one is talking about the purpose of generating renunciation, why we should be generating renunciation. So that’s now the without the complete intention definitely to be free from cycling, there’s no way to specify attachment seeking pleasurable effects in the ocean of cycling. Because the problem is the desire attachment.
The desired attachment, so is the hatred and ignorance or delusions. Main thing is these are the three poisons: attachment, hatred, and ignorance or delusions. Then sometimes aversion or anger, but this is just more than just anger. Hatred is hate, you know? Then ignorance.
These are called three poisons. If you look at the many, many Buddhist temples outside of the temple, it’s very important that they put this big, big art, beautiful. It’s called wheel of life. You can see that, you know. All the saṃsāra, middle of the big scary face, Lord of Death, you know, holding in his mouth is like this, and here is the on his body area, all the saṃsāra, you know, written down.
It’s written down all the saṃsāra, beautiful art. Middle of that, the will of life, you can I don’t think we have here? Oh, okay. Good. Yes.
Middle of the wheel of life, you can see the three animals. What I will do one day, you know, bring that. I wish if you have a big projection, then maybe new center. I will teach you wheel of life one day. Okay?
So then you will understand more this all these ideas and notions. Anyway, middle of this wheel of life, you can see three animals. One is the pigeon, and second one is the snake, and third one is the pig. These are the re representation of attachment, aversion, and ignorance. Bird is the symbol for attachment.
Pig on this snake is for anger or the aversion. And this pig is the ignorance in the middle of that. Then now, after that, they wrote down all the six realms. Last week, we talked about upper realms, lower realms, all these, you know, samsaric picture. Because of the three poisons, we are constantly, you know, cycling inside the saṃsāra, sometimes human being, sometimes an animal, sometimes hungry ghost, sometimes hell realm, sometimes demigod and god realm, like that.
So, see, that’s beautiful to learn. Also, surrounding by another one is the twelve links of dependent origination also there also there. You know? These are the how we are born in saṃsāra and how we born in saṃsāra. Of course, three poisons is the poisons are the main thing, but there are a lot of things we need to talk about it.
It’s not something that simple as we think. It’s a lot of things, lot of things. So, point is now here is the this without the complete intention definitely to be free from the cyclic. There’s no way to pacify attachment seeking pleasurable effect in the ocean of cyclic. Also, by craving for cyclic existence, embodied beings are continuously bound, therefore, at the very beginning seek renunciation.
So, attachment is very, very clearly is very understandable, you know, when you raise, when you get angry, oh, that’s not good. But attachment is very tricky. So attachment looks like a beautiful, wonderful, but then, you know, after really there is no beauty in it. Everything is ugliness. But in the beginning, you couldn’t see it, you couldn’t feel it.
It’s beautiful, very attractive. Oh, just a beautiful watch, or a beautiful man, or a beautiful woman, or a beautiful house. It’s beautiful. The feeling is good. But then, as much as you attach that object, beginning, then after sometimes everything falls apart.
It’s not good to say, but sometimes I make little, you know, joke in my monk, little sense of humor. Sometimes some people doesn’t like, some people I don’t know, Adelaide. I will give you example. People get married, isn’t it? Beautiful, sounds beautiful.
You make this music beautiful, beautiful, you know, all wearing beautiful gown, beautiful dress. He wore beautiful hats, sweets, it’s beautiful, you know, look like angels there. And they make music, they’re all telling you all this, putting flowers. Wonderful. But problem is all this attachment, hatred.
And after sometimes, slowly, slowly, slowly, things will fall apart. Then now, sometimes, some cases, big, big problem, divorce, and try to harm each other. Now look back, a few years back, all this musics, what happened? Beautiful musics, beautiful dress, both are so smelly, but now it’s a very ugly ugliness. That’s my point here.
You know? Now look at the I saw recently news American famous what is I don’t know his name was actors, they are now seems to be having some issues. When you look at them, such a beautiful man and both, you know, he’s a very handsome man, she is such a lovely, beautiful, now, but this is the saṃsāra, of course, you know. It’s just not something that just happened now. It has been this way.
Point is to look at the attachment, that beginning of that music. We didn’t realize already causing future suffering. We didn’t realize that. At the moment, if someone is practicing Buddhist, that’s my perspective, strongly, at the moment, maybe he or she may, of course, attach each other, maybe not that much strongly if you didn’t know in advance everything is fall apart, but better to be now to make a balance. Maybe, you know, their marriage life will be last long.
For instance, my mother, my father, they they’re together for many, many years. Of course, my father passed away when I was very young. After that, my stepfather was he passed away nineteen ninety one or two. They lived together for many, many years because our society understands married life is important, but of course, know, things really fall apart. When things fall apart, they need to do this kind of practice, which is the patience, tolerance, forgiveness.
These are the main weapons. So, that’s why many, many Tibetan people, their married life is almost until their death. But nowadays, that is also changing, especially Tibetans who live in New York. I heard many things. Oh, friends, it’s changing.
Why? Because of their lack of practice. Because now these young ones are, you know, they very much westernized, western culture, you know. They they influence that. And so nowadays in New York, in the Tibetan young men and women, they get divorced.
And and and some cases very ugly. Yeah. I heard it. So so that’s, you know, our point is the what I was saying is the attachment is we have to be very, very careful. Not all attachments are bad.
There’s some good one and bad one. But we are talking here is the bad one. Strong attachment must overcome that attachment. It’s very, very important. In order to overcome that strong attachment, that’s why we need to meditate ugliness means that.
You need to understand that there is really no strong sense of beauty, you know, those feelings, really. Just temporarily good. But I’m not saying we shouldn’t get married. Of course not. I’m giving you the little psychology perspective.
If you really want to keep your merit life for last long, I think then you need to practice in advance meditation of the ugliness. Still, you can enjoy life with each other. Of course, why not? This is our level of vow. If you’re not monks and nuns, of course, you know, very different.
You can do anything, whatever you want. But you can keep your married life long. I think that’s, I will say, one hundred percent sure. If you do know how to really, you know, maintain this married life with practice, patience is the most important practice. Not only for the married people, everyone of us.
As I said before, when I was in America for the first time, without my patience, I wouldn’t survive there. It’s very, very difficult. Yeah, tolerance, forgiveness is another most important. Okay? So, that’s why try to figure out how much attachment is too much.
You’ve got to figure out. You need to do that. You need to take action that. Nobody can help you to fix this. My point is to overcome attachment for you.
We can teach you, but the main thing is that you are the one who must need to overcome this attachment, which is what we call detachment. See? In order to be detachment, meditation of ugliness is the best thing to do. Even though you meditate ugliness, still you feel sudden attachment. That’s a good one.
That’s supposed to be you needed. You know, you needed that because we cannot just avoid totally the old attachment. How? How can we live in this world? How?
It’s impossible. We need sudden attachment, good one is, to, you know, live in this world, to survive. But another one is, excuse me, bad one is, bad attachment is we don’t need it. Absolutely not. Must overcome.
Okay? I have attachment towards my friends and family. My mother, I love my mother. I respect her very much, which is a good way, but why not? So if you meditate her kindness, as I mentioned, my father passed away when I was very young.
When my mother raised me, she sent me to the school and monastery. She tried to give me a good life. I never really gone through difficulties. Eating is okay, wearing is okay, everything was okay because of my mother. See?
So that means I love my mother. Same as like you all do have certain attachment towards one’s friends and family. Good one. So is the husband to wife, wife to husband. Of course, must love each other.
Wonderful. But make this attachment balanced. If you don’t, you will suffer. That’s my point here. So, that’s now when I say beginning music to ending divorce.
See? That happens. That’s why the attachment is very tricky. You must, you know, vigilance is very important. Okay?
Also by craving for a cyclic existence, embodied beings are continuously bound. Therefore, at the very beginning seek renunciation. I will going to do these more details next week because there are so many things we need to talk about it. But now, I will leave here. So, I will do some, yeah, some questions and answers, okay?
I will give you more details next week, this particular verses, Yeah. Go ahead. I can take some questions, please. Anyone? When you mentioned to, I hope I heard this correctly, when you mentioned to meditate on the ugliness of something if you’re overly attached.
Do you mean the ugliness of that person or circumstance? No. No. No. Oh, circumstances, yes.
You can say not like a, oh, she is ugly. He is ugly. Look bad. No. That’s not my point.
It’s depend the what what what, you know, object you attach strongly. It depend that. If it is person, then same thing you need to understand the if you’re very excited beginning, you know, you need to understand in advance, okay, beautiful, wonderful. So but all this, how you say, the steps after that, you know, but then but then eventually, this strong attachment will bring you so many issues and problems, especially the strong attachment will occur jealousy. See.
Then now, once you feel jealousy, now you understand what I mean. So also the another, you know, sometimes these are not so good here in the West. You need to check when have very strong attachment to that person. Check what exactly, you know, I am attached, for what. Mostly we attached people’s only skin, the shapes and the skin.
But if you look at the underneath of the skin what would be? See now comes worse and worse and worse than that if you need to go deeper and deeper and deeper this way. If you look at the under the skin there would be so many flesh. Not so pleasurable isn’t it? Even people don’t like to touch.
Even though not only just that, under that you can see the muscle, I don’t know all these, the bloods and then the bone and then inside the bone marrow, see. But main thing is only our skin is very important for us to attach to something. So see, but meditation of the ugliness, something like that, really you need to analyze deeply that human being, you know, whoever you attach so much. Little attachment, don’t do this ugliness. It’s okay.
Enjoy. But here is we are talking about the strong attachment, something that you have to have to win. Like, you know, Donald Trump, he wants to win everything, you know, this and that, something like that, then I think you need to do this meditation. Okay? Do you understand?
So this will reduce the small, how I say, feeling of the attachment. It will reduce, which is good. But still, you feel attachment, which is okay, you know. Main thing is the balance. That’s important.
Go, anyone? Geshe-la, we’ve spoken before about the relationship between teacher and student. And how that’s quite a unique sort of relationship. And it’s almost inevitable that there’d be some sort of attachment Mhmm. That develop there.
Mhmm. So for us to have healthy the students to have a healthy relationship with a teacher, you have any advice for us? How do we monitor that so that we’re not being drawn into a situation that’s going to cause suffering? Generally speaking, between teacher and student, that attachment seems to be positive, generally speaking. It’s positive, but it can be negative.
Is it depending we are talking about the even though it is a positive attachment, but still the you know, we must practice impermanence, the most important one, and that part is the difficult to meditate awareness kind of things, but this one is particularly we need to meditate the impermanence. We need to meditate. We need to understand about the karmic law of cause and effect. So these are going to be help us. For instance, I I have so many students in Florida.
Of course, since I left, all the students very, very sad. But sometimes, some point, we must give up something for good. I give up. My students come here to give and contribute some of the teachings to Buddha house students, but I wouldn’t be last long here in the Buddha house, maybe somewhere else, you know. So that’s what we the teacher do, you know.
Of course, even though you are with the students for a long, long time, of course, you know, we do practice attachment. It depends under the circumstances, it depends on the situation, it’s all that. Generally speaking, between teacher and student attachment is mostly comes from the teacher’s kindness, you know, teacher’s kindness, so that’s a good one. But even though sometimes students need to be very careful that if something happened to their teacher or maybe teacher, especially when teacher dies, sometimes people are more in too much grieving, which is not good. Of course, a little sadness we all feel, little wariness of course.
But we are talking here is the more strong part of the grieving and suffering and worrying and mourning. That’s what we are talking about. The teacher goes somewhere same as like I did it, you know. But that kind of relationship is very, very difficult to avoid it, actually. For instance, still I miss my teacher who passed away many, many years ago.
Sometimes I dreamed in middle of a dream, I wake up and I cry, you know. Of course, it’s already gone. I can understand. But still you miss them very much. But nobody will last long.
I mean, though we wish. Same thing. Similar, like, I’m telling to my students, I’m not dead yet in Florida. You know? My teacher passed away, then what would be?
You know? But I can meet my students in Florida. You know? It’s not big problem. Yes, this needed to be balanced too, actually.
Would say it’s a different kind of attachment than than the, you know, but still it is. If this attachment bringing us so much suffering and pain, then it’s not good even though attachment between student and teacher. Everything needed to be to to analyze it, to to really check it out how much is too much. So but generally speaking, between student and teacher relationship is the we are talking good one, bad one is the very different. But it’s it’s a kind of a, you know, mostly the positive.
But we have we must be analyze it well, and it’s good to be balanced sometimes, I think. Yeah. You know, listen to the teachings. Mainly, teacher teaches you how to control the, you know, negative emotions including the attachment. So, for instance, we all have strong attachment towards His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
I’m worrying all the time that Dalai Lama is now eighty one or two years old, and even though he was saying he would live until ninety, something like this, but time is not so good. But I’m sometimes worrying, you know. Oh my gosh. What would be if he passed away? Who gonna help us?
I mean, of course, it is our own karma, but still, this happens. And so is the we have such a great Lama Zopa Rinpoche. It’s a there’s a really it’s a very difficult to be have nowadays like his holiness and Dalai Lama and Lama Zopa Rinpoche. It’s very difficult because time is changing, you know. When I was in the monastery, now monks are really, really, very much materialistic than before because of the everything is changing.
And I don’t know ten years after, twenty years after, what would be monastery life? It’s a it’s questionable. Nowadays, you know, not many people coming from Tibet to becoming a monk. From the local, almost, I would like to say zero. I mean, local means from India, you know.
But I’m usually from Tibet, many young, you know, boys and girls come and become nuns and monks. But now few it’s few years. Now it’s already stopped. Not many. Usually, hundreds, two hundred because I was disciplinarian and master.
I know exactly how many people are coming from from Tibet. But nowadays almost stopped. But nowadays, we need to go to Sikkim in those area in Nepal to ask people to become monks and nuns. Like this, that much difficult. But then someday, monastery would be the same monastery as I I saw in Colombia, Bogota, Colombia.
They used to have five hundred monks and nuns in one catholic church. Beautiful. On the hill. In the hill. Beautiful, beautiful.
I was there, they took me a tour. Beautiful church. Monks and nuns’ houses are small, beautiful, beautiful. I feel very sad. And he told me it used to be five hundred monks and nuns and that church, that temple.
Now, zero finished. I think, I’m not saying it’s gonna happen in our monastery, I think possible. Know, so it’s a different attachment actually, but still we need balance. We need balance, whatever is it. Yeah.
Okay. No questions, you are now dedication Please look at the page two forty six, May all beings everywhere plagued by sufferings of body and mind obtain an ocean of happiness and joy. May they not be deprived of happiness. May all their wishes be fulfilled. Naked finds clothing, hungry finds food, Thirsty finds water. Delicious drinks.
Nectars find broth. Happiness and prosperity. May the poor find wealth. May all their wishes be accomplished. May those who are sick and ill, quickly be free from ailments, whatever disease there are in your world, beings, may these be uprooted.
May the frightened cease to be afraid, those bound be freed, with powerless, find power, and people think of benefiting each other. For as long as sentient beings remain until space remains. This is the wish of the world. Page one hundred twenty please. Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
There is hatred. May all beings effortlessly attain the transcendent, blissful state of the omniscient Buddha. Thank you for coming here. Good night.