Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. Geshe Kyab continues his weekly exploration of patience and non-retaliation through commentary on Śāntideva’s Way of the Bodhisattva, building on earlier discussions about the futility of revenge. In this 62-minute session, he examines verse 62, which argues against justifying anger and retaliation on the grounds that one can gain material wealth and purify negativity simultaneously. Geshe Kyab unpacks the core teaching: that negative karma accumulated through angry action far outweighs any positive deeds or purification done in parallel, making such justifications hollow. He then addresses pressing audience questions on difficult real-world applications—particularly domestic violence—emphasizing that while self-defence is necessary, losing one’s temper compromises one’s ability to protect oneself. A substantial portion covers contemplation practice and its role in stabilizing mindfulness, illustrated through personal stories of memorizing texts as a young monk. He also responds to questions on gender equality in Buddhism, the five degenerations of our age, and collective responsibility for suffering. Aimed at practitioners already familiar with Buddhist philosophy and actively engaged with Śāntideva’s teachings.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 2017 05 04.mp3
UUID: bb869231-93dd-4d83-a87b-3ffae6dba73c
Teacher: Geshe Kyab
Collection: Thursday Patience (Geshe Kyab)
Date: 2017-05-04
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 62.2 minutes
Words: ~3,991
Good evening everyone. Page thirty four. English. I go for refuge until enlightenment to the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha supreme. By the perfections may I become of benefit to all sentient beings.
May all sentient beings have happiness in the causes of happiness. May all sentient beings be free from suffering in the causes of suffering. May all sentient beings be inseparable from happiness that is free from suffering. May all sentient beings abide in equanimity, free from attachment, for faints, hatred for the enemies. Reverently, I prostrate with my body, speech and mind, presenting clouds of every type of offering actually arranged.
I declare all my negative actions accumulated since the beginningless time, and rejoice in the merit of holy and ordinary beings. Please remain until the end of cyclic existence. Turn the wheel of dharma for living beings. And I dedicate all my merits to those who have arrived at great enlightenment. Page ninety seven, please.
Short mandala offering. Thank you. Last few weeks, we discussed retaliating, know, vengeance, revenge, or retaliating if someone hurts you or your family, so I am justified against their act. So regularly, I think it seems to be very much understandable when someone is hurting you and your family physically, verbally or mentally abusing. It’s understandable to retaliate against his or her act.
However, Śāntideva was saying, absolutely not. Absolutely not, Retaliation is not really the answer to be against someone’s nasty act. Śāntideva was saying, everything here is one’s own responsibility, and one’s own responsibility means our own future is in the palm of our hand. So it doesn’t matter how people react towards you, good way or the wrong way, or the nice way, or the bad way, but then our future is in the palm of our hand, so everything dependent on behaviour and attitude. So is our actions, which is what we the karma, the action.
So depending on one’s own actions or the karma, then your future life would be whether suffering or painful life, or happiness and peaceful life. So it depends on your own actions now. So if you look at that perspective, that means only the answer is the patience against someone’s hurtfulness or any other nasty acts. That’s only the answer that Śāntideva was saying. But then, we get these questions again and again.
Even though Michael had a class yesterday, some questions came. And, Christina, can you turn off that candle? I have this bad allergy, you know. Yeah, over there, please. Domestic violence yesterday.
Domestic violence, that one is the case. When somebody acts as this domestic violence, What can you do? It’s very difficult actually, all this practice is extremely difficult to do it, but everything is individual to individual, and also how much you’re really understanding the teachings, especially what Śāntideva was saying in this book. These teachings are generally the, these teachings are the, you know, that’s really the principle teaching that we’re supposed to need to follow the instructions and then just do the practice. But then now, as I said, this is individual to individual, meaning how much people can observe the teachings, and how much people can understand the teachings, how much they have faith in the teachings.
So there are many, many tools, elements, or puzzles, whatever you think. It’s very important to know. Not only just one specific angle or element, you need many, many different elements to understand the core of this teaching, which is the Pabongka Rinpoche was saying, our future is in our hands. That’s exactly the liberation in your hand or our hand. That book, Lamrim, wrote by J.
Pabongka Rinpoche, it’s unbelievable. That’s called Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand. So that’s exactly what defines our actions. Also, our future will be, whether good or bad.
So now here is such an extremely difficult practice, like domestic violence, let’s say. How can one be able to really respond to domestic violence. That’s a very tough one. Of course, Śāntideva wasn’t saying, ‘Just let him do whatever he wants, just to be like a naive patient, or a blind patient. No, Śāntideva wasn’t saying that.
We need self defence also, you know. Self defence is also very important. Mainly, we shouldn’t be losing our temper. If you lose the temper, then it’s very difficult to protect oneself. Very difficult to protect oneself, I think.
That’s what I think. We need to do something to get out of that position, that when someone is harming you, anything that you can do and escape from there, but not only just the really acting strong, you know, violence shouldn’t be doing that. I think then we will be Okay. But that’s one thing, domestic violence is very difficult. Anyway, so mostly not retaliating, not vengeance, So this is the Śāntideva, again and again and and again, the last few weeks.
All the teachings are mainly not retaliating or not vengeance like that. So just last week, we talked about this one more not retaliating teaching by the Śāntideva, I think, verse number sixty one. Suppose I said, while living off my material gain, I would consume my negative karma force and do positive things. Well, if for the sake of material gain I become enraged, wouldn’t my positive karma force be consumed and negative karmic forces come about. Last week, Śāntideva was if someone made an argument saying that in order to gain some materials, gaining material is important, this will help me to comfort my life, to have a good life.
As well as I can also do many purifications, reciting, let’s say, the Vajrasattvas mantra, the four forces of purification, so I can also purify the negative karma. So because of that, I am justified by retaliating against their insult, their criticism, or whatever it is, in order to gain the material. One of the verses actually, the saying was when someone is insulting you or belittling, saying many nasty things, and doing so many nasty things, in order to hinder, means in order to interrupt your material gaining, because of their jealous mind. So things like that happen, and one of the first things, then I can justify retaliating their act. But the next one is saying, also, I can justify their because of the materials, not only just converting myself, but also I will do some purification practice that I can be able to eliminate the negative karma.
So in that point of view, one of the arguments is saying, then really now I can get angry towards the person. Even though when Śāntideva was again saying, No, no, no, you cannot do that because your karma would be much, much heavier, or I think they call it outweighs, like much heavier karma than your positive deeds. There is no comparison between these two things. karma is much bigger, negative karma is much bigger, and your good deeds are very little. So this conception, or the idea, is also one that Śāntideva was saying is not good.
You know, just gaining material, retaliating either. Then also that person is thinking to do many purification and practice of generosity. So this is similar as some people, they commit some crime, and then the next day they go to church and they confess. You know, they confess, they give money and donations, then they go back to the street and they do action again. This is, I think, similar like that.
This is the last week we talked about it, you know, it’s similar like that. Śāntideva was saying, totally no. So that’s why down there is the very purpose for which I am living should fall apart. What is use of life committing only negative deeds, because you’re supposed to be accumulating all these materials to live a nice life. Then during your lifetime, if you are committing so many negative deeds, then what is worth living life?
What is worth living with so many materials and living a long life? So this is, I think, next one is, if the very purpose for which I am living should fall apart, absolutely, know, this falls apart. What is the use of a life, committing only negative deeds, which is the last week we finished that. Now, today, you have this textbook, look at verse number sixty two. I’m starting from there.
Could I give you some help with three words? You sure? Okay. To malign. I think you were saying Malign, and it’s malign Malign, M A L I g n.
And it’s malign because to me to me mean someone doesn’t mean anything. Scenario and to one word. And to cry is tears, but spelt the same way, and you said tear. Is that okay? Mhmm.
Yeah. If I not do it for you, would you rather I didn’t? It’s okay, now it’s finished. Yeah. Do it.
I have no appointment tomorrow. No. So, thirty to eleven? Quarter to eleven. It disturb you to have the heater on?
Do we need a heater? Is it not that much cold? I’m okay, I don’t think they want. You are cold? Okay.
I can barely hear. So put it on for a minute and see how cold it is. Okay. Door needs to be closed, you know? Otherwise, cold wind comes.
Thank you. Can I have one on May calendar? You. Do you want a tea or coffee? Tea is good.
Tea, hot tea. Green tea. Yes. Questions? Okay.
That’s a good one. First, listening is just to the teachings. Second one is the contemplation. Contemplation is the thinking constantly that teaching. It could be reading, it could be thinking, it could be writing, but the main thing is the contemplation is fundamental.
Even though you are writing, but you are also thinking about what you are writing. For instance, contemplation is very important because contemplation will help you to improve mindfulness. Contemplation is really in order to improve mindfulness, contemplation is very important. It depends on what we call samchü. That’s called samchü.
Samchü is wisdom of contemplation. For instance, today, not English. One of the words I use This word I memorized when I was young, maybe fifteen or sixteen years old. But now I’m fifty five years old. So many years I didn’t do anything.
But then because of my power of contemplation, when I was young, after memorizing the text, we read again and again many, many times. But even though after many, many years, after you remember some of these words, not everything, you know. For instance, Śāntideva’s Way of the Bodhisattva book. I memorized all. But you are asking me, Geshe, can you say it without looking at the book everything?
I cannot. But I can say fifty percent yes. Still I can say it. Same thing I did memorize when I was young. Even though, as I said, I got some Swiss chocolates from my teacher Geshe Ratna also because I was reading that Geshe Ratna was very much fond of this way of the bodhisattva.
And I had a nice voice, and he asked one day in the class, anyone memorize the Way of the Bodhisattva? All raised their hand. And I just, yes, and some of the others, you know. And then he said, say it one by one. We are three young monks.
I said, and someone said, and he said, you have a nice voice. Okay, come tonight, say this one outside my window. He was sleeping. Almost eleven thirty p. M.
He was sleeping, you know. I was saying this for almost a few hours, you know. He was thinking that. So that’s why the next day he gave me Swiss chocolate. He was in Switzerland.
And Swiss francs, it was two hundred or one hundred and fifty. But it’s huge, you know. I’m talking about 1970s, 1980s. Hundred Swiss francs is huge for us, for a monk, you know? Anyway, because of this contemplation, we read it constantly many, many times.
So that’s now mindfulness. So see, that’s called contemplation. Do you understand what I’m saying now? It can be reading, writing, or reading, you know. But the main thing is thinking and writing.
Yeah, I mean contemplation can be anything. I mean, now you are asking me just what does contemplation I’m just giving you one simple example. Also the contemplation is, let’s say, if you received the instructions of calm abiding, example, you know. Then now, before actually you meditate all the instructions of calm abiding, you must contemplate first. See, that means you must read it mentally, think about it, that instructions.
When you do that, then the mindfulness will grow, so you will not forget the instructions. Then you can, after you can meditate exactly in order, how the teacher instructs it. What is that? You don’t look fifty five. Oh, okay.
Yeah, I’m fifty five. Yeah. So are you saying don’t blame the stick? Don’t blame the person? No, no.
No. What it was saying is the Don’t blame the person, yes. But if you really want to blame, directly to blame the stick. Who’s going to blame the stick? But this is just how you say metaphor, you know.
If you really want to blame directly, then stick is still causing you an injury to you directly, not the person. You should be blaming the stick if you want to blame directly. But then if you want to blame indirectly not the person, but his anger. Because of his anger, the person wielded this stick and then strike you. So the person is pure and not blind?
Yes. The person is pure, I don’t know if person is pure or not, but main thing is don’t get angry actually. Main thing is don’t retaliate. Don’t get angry to the person. Don’t retaliate.
And don’t be vengeance to the person. You know? If you do that, what happened was then you are now starting new negative karma. But then that negative karma eventually raises you a negative result in the future. So this goes continually, cycles.
So that’s why you must stop it. Now, if you stopped it, there wouldn’t be any consequence of this particular action because you stopped it. Okay? Go on. The cause of hurting somebody else’s body in previous lifetime.
Okay, there are certain results we can say, sudden causes, that because of the cause, how do you say, particularly specifically, we can say some of those results, we can also say that is the particular cause that causes a reason like this. But now you are asking me the young age degenerating, you mean people who are dying or body? Okay. I have an answer for that. There are a few answers for that.
The good one is maybe the worldly people not that much following the Buddha’s teachings or not practicing. So that’s the main cause. Then the teaching is also degenerating. So there are five degenerations. One is the Chö nyingpa, which is the Buddha’s teaching.
People may, acting as following the Buddha’s teaching or practicing the Buddha’s teachings, may not be really actually practicing the Buddha’s teaching. So that can be one cause of the degeneration of Buddhist teaching. I think that’s what I will say. That’s a perfect one. Okay?
There must be other also involved. Of course, main thing is the past negative karma, worldly people’s past negative karma. And so is the there there were already four or five Buddhas already appeared in this world, and there would be two thousand Buddhas supposed to appear in this world. Maybe now time is that’s called time degeneration. Another degeneration is called time degeneration, Dharma degeneration, and sentient being degeneration.
Sentient being degeneration. So you know, people are becoming more aggressive. People are becoming more busy than the earlier times. I can see that. But then now one thing is that His Holiness, the Dalai Lama mentioned one of his teachings.
He was saying people become more compassionate. I’m a little confused. Generally speaking, maybe there must be some different explanation. His Holiness mentioned that people are better. It depends on what context you are talking about, all these degeneration times.
Generally speaking, it is degenerating. It’s getting worse. Just look at the two thousand and two thousand, between two thousand, which is I came to Florida, two thousand, which is the first time I touched the computer in my life. Then the year two thousand, two thousand, all these different sufferings, different electronics, now look at it, people are becoming very busy, if you look at it that way. But now these are helping us also, all these teachings.
You can read it. But now it’s difficult to say. Usually, for instance, in the monastery, if you want to meet people, there is no telephone or cell phone. You need to walk and go there and say, Oh, we are going to meet tomorrow this time, so and so. It’s nice actually you are walking there and you are talking directly.
You are really socializing, meeting people, contact with other people. But nowadays it’s not like that. If you look at it that way, it’s not so good. Socializing is really degenerating. Mostly people socialize inside the computer, even though many, many meetings nowadays people do.
TKC in Florida also sometimes we do meetings on Skype. But which is also good if you look at the one side, which is good. But then now there’s not that much human contact also, know. See, it’s difficult to say. Woman power.
Yeah, we get this answer all the time. Some people think Buddhism is discriminating women. We get this answer got many times in Tibet. Many things in Tibet, you know, I don’t think really discriminating the women because there were not many women, how you say, higher teacher. And yes, we did have some of the women.
What happened was my observation was that what happened in Tibet, I wasn’t born in Tibet. Because of the of habit, most nuns do many prayers and pujas in Tibet. That’s the only way I’m understanding. There is no Buddhist philosophy in the nunnery in Tibet. I don’t think really somebody is saying, No, nunnery monastery cannot have Buddhist philosophy.
You cannot do the same as luck. I don’t think so. Because of the kind of this, what happened, I’m thinking habit. So just nuns are just trying to be more pujas and those things. But then since Tibet is exiled because of His Holiness and Dalai Lama, then many of the nuns, older nuns wake up when they come to India and around the world.
So try to be more now, only just sticking with pujas and the prayers, also do some Buddhist philosophy. So that’s why the His Holiness established in Dharmasala, the first nunnery is Ganden Choeling, which is one of my cousins. She was in that monastery. She was very educated. Since then, The nuns because they have got more education now when get when they get exiled, and then, you know, more awareness, I think.
I didn’t hear something that is government or some from the monastery about or that control the non ren monastery or any just woman organization not to have same quality as a monk. I don’t think so. I don’t know. I never heard that. But this seems to be kind of a habit, you know.
Even though monks also, not every monk does learn Buddhist philosophy, only the three big monasteries like the Sera Monastery, Ganden and Drepung Monastery, and think Tashi Lhunpo Monastery also. There are so many monks in monasteries also, they don’t learn Buddhist philosophy at all. Only they do prayers and pujas. Even though Tantric monasteries also, they do only tantric ritual teachings and prayers and pujas. But nowadays, even though tantric monasteries also now do Buddhist philosophy. Even His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, his own monastery also does Buddhist philosophy.
I think in Tibet, maybe his own monastery was also not that much practicing meditating Buddhist philosophy. But nowadays Namgyal Monastery, nowadays they do. It’s become more how do you say, awareness, more open up, I think. I think that. It’s good that we have a Tārā female Buddha.
Tārā is the representation of she is a woman, and she was Bodhisattva, and she became enlightenment. We have a Vajrayoginī also. I mean there are so many male and female Buddha, but that’s why now nuns or women also, you need this strong, enthusiastic to learn. Learn, learn, learn Buddhist philosophy to become good teachers. You have a right to do that.
It’s just out there. Everything is individual to individual. How much encouragement, how much you can go further more. But there is out there now. Dharmasala, you know, and also Drepung, the backside of Drepung, I think they have also nunneries.
Nowadays there are so many nunnery monasteries. Dharmasala, you can look at it, there are surrounded by there used to be only one nunnery monastery, which is the Ganden Choeling one. But now, down there are many, many nunneries. Nuns are really learning very well. Even when I was in the monastery in the 1990s, before I became Geshe, some of the Ganden nuns in the nunnery came to our monastery debate in Tibet.
But they looked like a monk, you know. Some nuns looked like a monk, only when they speak, and then you know. There was one nun. She used to be the military. She used to be an army, and she became a nun.
They are called army nun, and her name is Damchö. Wow, she was some very sharp monk who speaks very sharply. When she was there, very good, she was giving some answers. Some of the old monks, nothing they can do. She was very sharp.
Magmi Chöma means military nun. That’s her name. Yeah, there are many good nuns. If you learn, you can be anything nowadays. It’s free.
Now many nuns are becoming Geshema or not, which is good. Usually the geshe only comes from the three big monasteries. But now if you learn in other monasteries, like a certain years or certain topic, you can be Geshema. That’s good. Any questions?
Last one. Last question. Anyone? Okay, My answer is yes, we are causing. We all cause, not only just one particular person, I think we all cause this degeneration.
And then the sudden, as I said, some others may involve sudden causes, especially the time, I think, which is the natural cause also. It’s difficult to say if I don’t make this clarification. Sometimes all these calamities, we get so many earthquakes, so many hurricanes, all these things. Of course, also they are caused by mother nature. And then also this one involves the human cost too.
It’s both sides. That’s called nowadays global warming things. They are talking about we should not be using this black, what is called coal. We shouldn’t be using that. So that’s a big problem in Donald Trump.
He wasn’t accepting that. So see, now we are causing. That’s just one. But of course then if you go previous karma, you can go back and also there are so many causes also. The point is that yes, there are some causes involved, or human, you know, really involve that.
And some of the causes are just natural causes also. It’s possible like that. Please look at page thirteen in the Buddha House prayer book. Lord of Dharma, we are accordance with various dispositions of those to be subdued. Make sure, in the light of your well spoken advice, secret mantra Vajrayāna, Buddha Śākyamūni.
For most holy Lama to you who are supremely, O Lama, please, please live. Thank Thank you very much.