Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 91-minute teaching, Geshe Kyab works through verses 76–82 of Chapter 6 of Śāntideva’s Bodhisattva’s Way of Life, exploring the mind’s resistance to others’ happiness and success. He opens with the recurring problem: when we see an enemy praised or happy, or when someone we dislike receives recognition, jealousy and resentment arise instead of joy. Śāntideva’s remedy is direct: if we truly wish all beings enlightenment through our prayers and vows, why do we burn with anger at their small happinesses? Geshe Kyab emphasizes rejoicing—a practice requiring no physical or verbal effort, only a shift in mind—as a core Buddhist antidote, noting it is the fourth limb of the seven-limb prayer performed daily. He illustrates the contradiction between our daily dedication to benefit all sentient beings and our actual behaviour when faced with rivals’ good fortune, using vivid examples from recent history and personal experience, including a 2003 airport detention. The talk is pitched at Buddhist practitioners who have taken refuge vows and are beginning to examine the gap between their stated commitments and their conditioned emotional reactions.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 2017 05 25.mp3
UUID: 40035996-fc31-4839-996a-01768b4adf51
Teacher: Geshe Kyab
Collection: Thursday Patience (Geshe Kyab)
Date: 2017-05-25
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 91.4 minutes
Words: ~8,142
K. Can you please close the door? That one. Did you call me? You.
Okay. Go ahead. Good evening, everyone. Page thirty four please. It’s called book.
I go for refuge until I am enlightened to the Buddha, the Dharma, Sangha, the supreme assembly, by the practice of giving and other perfections, may I become Buddha the benefit of all sentient beings. May all sentient beings have happiness in the causes of happiness. May all sentient beings be free from attachment for friends and hatred for enemies. Reverently, I prostrate with my body, speech and mind. Short mandala offering.
Mantra please. Thank you. So the text of this class is Bodhisattva’s Way of Life by Master Śāntideva. And we are teaching here chapter number six, which is all about the patience and how to minimize the anger, and how to generate the patience, tolerance, forgiveness. So this particular chapter is all about the battle between anger and patience.
So we approach verses number seventy six, which I will start tonight. Before that, last week, we talked about a few verses. One very important implication that Śāntideva mentioned. I will put this in an easier way. Let’s say natural suffering.
You know, don’t misunderstand, natural suffering and pain. Natural suffering and pain happens to all of us. Generally speaking, saṃsāra is is a cyclic existence, that’s called saṃsāra. Mainly saṃsāra is the internal saṃsāra, not outer saṃsāra. Internal saṃsāra is the contaminated five aggregates.
As long as we obtain these contaminated five aggregates, we will be suffering, we will be in pain, because it is contaminated. So that’s why it’s very understandable understanding pain and suffering is very important. Doesn’t matter if pain and suffering, physically pain and suffering, or mentally, or anything. The point is the cyclic existence of the saṃsāra. So contaminated five aggregates, which is the real saṃsāra.
The outer saṃsāra is the outer world, which I mentioned before. But now, actually the saṃsāra is pain and suffering. So that’s why we cannot escape from pain and suffering until we really transform contaminated five aggregates to uncontaminated five aggregates. I’m not saying the pain in the suffering cannot be ceased, of course. What I was saying is that as long as we are in the saṃsāra, we cannot escape the pain and suffering.
That is my point. So however, pain and suffering can be ceased. Buddha himself taught us the third noble truth, cessation of suffering. But you cannot cease the suffering until you really understand the suffering and the pain. But I will not go into more details about that part of the teaching.
Here is the main thing, last week we talked about accepting pain and suffering is very important. Because if you do not accept this small pain and suffering, you will be able to avoid the greater pain and suffering in the future. Śāntideva also gave us the example of the criminal who crimes greatly. So now he was going to be in the death penalty. So that’s an example.
However, at some point, at some point, point, will free you, but we will punish you by cutting one of your hands. So now this man has an option or the choices, what he can be choosing, these choices, whether he wants to be on death penalty, or maybe he just let them cut out one of his hands. So if he is allowed to cut one of his hands, that can free him from the death penalty. Who is going to say, I want to choose the death penalty than just cutting one hand? So then he will choose to cut out one hand, which means he will crying greatly, but he will be free from death penalty.
Similar to this suffering, pain in the suffering, especially the human being’s pain in the suffering, if you compare it with an animal or other realms like a hungry ghost or hell realms, our pain and suffering is very small. But if you do accept the pain and suffering, this would help you in the future not getting greater and bigger pain. Suffering. Because what happened was, this will purify in the future this big suffering and pain. What would be if you were born in hell realms?
Tremendous pain and suffering. What would be if you were born in a hungry ghost? What would be if you were born in animal realms? If you look at it that way, so then now our human’s pain and suffering is small. Okay?
And this point of view, it’s good to also learn and understand the pain and suffering that other realms, like animals’ pain and suffering, hungry ghosts, hell realms. I know nobody likes to hear suffering and pain. Nobody wants, nobody likes to hear it. But it’s good to know their pain in the suffering. Then if you really compare our pain in the suffering, which is not that much bad as we have been thinking it.
So that’s why this lifetime as a human being, There are many resources we have. There are many ways we can able to ease ourselves, do some practices. There are many, many, many things we can do to make this pain in the suffering more reasonable. All this pain in the suffering, take it as an advantage. All this pain and suffering transforms into a path to enlightenment.
So we can But I’m not saying that when we feel pain and suffering, you don’t need to go to the doctor. Of course, we need to do that. But the first thing is that we all need to try not to get sick. Whatever we need to do, do some exercise things, eat the right food. There are many wonderful things we can do to prevent bad health.
We can do that. But then sometimes, even though we try to do many good things, sometimes we get sick. Then if you do this practice now, whatever Śāntideva mentioned, accepting the pain and the suffering, try to take, first of all, to take the medicines. And whatever you need to do, go to the doctors. Of course these are very important.
Then, you know, if you accept it, if you think about this pain and suffering, I’m going to substitute for other sentient beings who are also feeling the same pain and suffering. If you try to substitute that. So at this point you also do Tonglen practice if you like it. Taking and giving meditation practice, you can do that. So there are many small, small tools that you can really apply to make this pain in the suffering more positive.
I’m not saying pain in the suffering is positive, make this more reasonable. Something that you can be able to transform all this pain and suffering into the path. One of the seven point mind training is called the transforming adversity into the path. So that’s exactly the now. You are transforming adversity into the path.
So this pain in the suffering. So that’s the last week we talked about it. So otherwise, if you’re not accepting this small pain and this suffering, if you are intolerant, if you’re getting angry, if you are blaming somebody else, if you are panicking, if you do I, I and me, me, me, then I think in the future, who knows? We could get greater pain and suffering. Now if you look at these two different perspectives, I think it’s better to accept pain and and do something.
You know, transform this particular pain in the suffering into the path. Of course, this can be physical pain in the suffering, but we are not only just focusing and concentrating on physical pain and suffering. Here is also you know, also included, which is our emotions. You know, which is the main object here, really all these emotions. These emotions are really so bad, it’s so bad, then the physical pain and suffering.
Mental emotion is the main way we all must be targeted. Okay? But here is, generally speaking, everything included. So that’s the last week. Now today, if you do have this textbook, look at the textbook, page number thirty eight, verse seventy six.
So now here is the if others obtain the pleasure of joy from placing someone I dislike who possess good qualities. Why, O mind, don’t you make yourself joyous like this by praising him too? Okay, this point is the three people. One side is the three groups of people. Somebody is praising somebody else.
Let’s say person number A is praising to person number B. We are the C, let’s say. Now that B, person number B, is the dislike or unfriendly person for person number C, which is us. We dislike person number B. But A was praising this person number B.
We dislike, not only did we dislike person number B because of person number B is our enemy, let’s say. Also, dislike person number A. Why are you praising this nasty man? Why? Now which is us, person number C..
Okay? Why are we dislike and unhappy that this first person is praising the second one? Because the second person is our enemy. Because we are jealous. We feel jealousy that our enemy is happy.
At the same time, we feel that this other person who is also praising this second person, we feel unhappy because this person is our enemy. This happens, you know. Even not only just like that, some of the books say even though when you see the family and friends of person number B, also when you see them, we dis like them because they are related. Also sometimes when you see his or her things, feel unhappy because that person is like, that person is not a friend, and also that person is an enemy. What Śāntideva was saying is, You should not be adopting such an attitude.
That’s what the devil was saying. You should not be adopting such an attitude that it is absolutely not appropriate because that person is praising your enemy because your enemy must have some good quality. You must be rejoicing. You must be rejoicing, too. Because not only just that, but also your enemy is happy because that person was praising him, because that enemy accumulated in a previous lifetime good karma.
So that’s why now he was getting some good words from the others. So that’s why the enemy is happy. That’s his or her karma that gives him good results. Why you have such a bad attitude. That is what Śāntideva was saying.
So this is very, very important. If you look at yourself, all ourselves, we went through this kind of experience when somebody that you dislike or your enemies, when they get hurt, we feel happy. When they are happy, we feel unhappy. For instance, a bigger example, nine eleven, two thousand and one,, September eleven, when the terrorists came to New York and all those areas, when they destroyed the World Trade Center, then the day, I think the day, they showed all these pictures. Then in the Middle East, many areas people are celebrating.
They are happy. Oh, it is true. You know these things are very happy. Why? Because the United States considered it as their enemy, and now we got hurt.
But then Mr. Bush sent so many military to those areas, and they killed so many people in the Middle East. But the United States people are celebrating. See again something like that. Why?
Because now your enemy is getting hurt. This is the world we live in. But here in this room, we cannot do that. We all are Buddhist practitioners. We must be different than those people who are not practicing.
We are Buddhists. I mean, we are Buddhist practitioners. So here we cannot do that. Here is totally the other way. We must rejoice in other people’s goodness.
We must be happy for other people’s happiness. We must be happy when other people are meditating. We should not be feeling jealousy. Also not only just rejoicing, we must encourage them to do more good things. That’s what we need to do.
Even though it could be your neighbor, could be your friends and family, it could be some stranger, whoever does good things, we must be really rejoicing. Rejoicing is very, very important in Buddhism. Remember, rejoicing is, again, you don’t need physical activities. Rejoicing is you don’t need any verbal. Mentally you can just rejoice.
Look at them. Oh, look at this. I do all the time. Look at these Buddha House volunteers. Oh.
But I do say sometimes I’m giving you this credit, which I did last Tuesday in mini classes. I like to do that. I mean it. And all the time, mentally, I’m rejoicing. Look at these people are so wonderful, volunteer.
They are busy, they have family, they working, but still they keep some time for the Buddha House to come here and open the center. I know it’s not easy to maintain this center because I spent fifteen years in TKC in Florida. Difficult. Sometimes I go there and open the center because when they are busy, it’s not easy. You need to do water bowl offerings, cleaning things.
Especially, look at here, it’s totally unbelievable. All these are such beautiful, so many wonderful people, volunteers, they’re involved. And when I do my morning practice, I’m telling you, I’m giving you so many blessings. I’m praying for you, you know, your health, your future as much as I can in my power. I’m really rejoicing.
When I’m rejoicing, actually I am really accumulating so many good karma and merits. As well as, as a fully ordained monk, I also send you many of my blessings and prayers. How beautiful! Instead of just feeling jealousy. Why?
Why? It does not make sense. Think. See, you no need to physically have strong activities. You no need to verbally say many, many prayers.
Only your mental just rejoice in other people’s goodness. This can be applied anywhere outside of the center also. When you see some people doing some good job, know, rejoice. How beautiful. See your own good.
Okay? I want to point out also rejoicing is one of the seven limb practices. Offering. And the third limb is confession. And then the rejoicing, requesting, supplication.
Okay? See, I’m not just saying these are also part of the seven limb practice. The seven limb practice is, you can see many, many Buddhist books and prayers. You can see that. We just did this one.
We do the seven limbs practice every day. Maybe you didn’t realize, you know? We do every day the seven-limb prayer here. Revealing, I prostrate with my body, spirit and mind here. See, we do this every class, except Sunday.
Why do we do this one? This is a very, very important prayer and practice. Look at here, I will also have some quotes. Maybe this may help you from the Come on. Okay, here.
A little big. Make it smaller. Oh, too small. Sorry. Anyway, I will do it this way first.
Prostration with refuge and bodhicitta. Then the second limb is offering. Then the third limb is admitting shortcomings or confession. Then the fourth limb is rejoicing. Rejoicing is still relevant here.
I have some words here from Lama Tsongkhapa’s Lamrim. Then next to the rejoicing is requesting that the Dharma wheel be turned. Then the supplication is not to enter nirvana. Or another translation is beseeching the teaching not to pass away. We are supplicating.
Please, lamas and Buddhas, everyone stay with us. Don’t enter the nirvana. So we are supplicating that. Then finally the dedication. Here is the dedication.
Okay, these are called seven lambs. Actually you can get it from here. And now look at here, the words of rejoicing from the Lamrim. Just have not everything, there are many, many words. Rejoicing, this is a practice that the fourth limb is the practice of rejoicing.
This is a practice that requires no physical or verbal activity. While sitting comfortably, you can accumulate incomparable great merit. When King Prasenajit asked the Buddha what Dharma he could carry out while still governing a kingdom, he was told to practice rejoicing, generating enlightenment mind, and dedication. Thus, we too must practice rejoicing a state of mind free of jealousy and competitiveness. Typical, when a person with whom we are unfriendly does something virtuous, we say out of jealousy, he was just making a show of moral rectitude.
What he did was really of no benefit to anyone. I mean, you know, that’s it. There are many other words. The point is rejoicing, not only just rejoicing the other people’s virtues and goodness, Also your own goodness and meditation. Also rejoicing in Lama Tsongkhapa’s or Lamrim, all these wonderful teachers’ teachings and their really advices.
I mean, there are tons of tons of tons of Sometimes when I am doing these seven limb practices and prayer, and when I do meditation, sometimes I just do this. Only the rejoicing, simply rejoicing can be I think you can do hours and hours just rejoicing the simply the Lama Tsongkhapa, Lamrim, and all the other Lamas teachings, the Dalai Lama’s kindness, Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s teachings and kindness. So is the lama yes, yes. If you go this way, it’s going to go on and on, on and on. Only rejoicing can be unbelievable.
Rejoice, you know. Then of course your own meditations, your own teachings, listening to the teachings, your own goodness, your own virtues and merits, just rejoice. So is the other people’s happiness. Instead of just feeling jealousy, or also getting angry, or envy, whatever you call it, so better to just rejoice. Rejoice in other people’s goodness.
So this is the particular verse that I’m really mentioning here. But, you know, sometimes we really, we are not analyzing it, and sometimes we really forget. Then we didn’t realize how rejoicing is important that one can be able to accumulate such merits and virtues. Now, the next one is that pleasure of joy of yours would be an arising of pleasure that was not disgraceful, something permitted by the ones with good qualities and superlative as well as for gathering others. If you wouldn’t like this pleasure of his, such a pleasure as that would be only his, then then stop as well giving wages and the like your ruin will come both seen and unseen.
Both this life and next life. That’s both seen and unseen. This one is similar. Okay, now I will read another translation from this book. What it says, I have three different translations.
Oh, here is the seventy seven. That joyous happiness of yours would be a source of joy, not something prohibited, a practice given by the excellent ones. And supreme means for assembling others, the next one is it’s said that others are made happy through being praised in this way, but if you do not want them to have this happiness, then since giving wages and the like makes them happy, you should cease and like to your servant. But you would be adversely affected both in this life and future lives. Point is when somebody prays to someone, if you are not happy anyway, or if you feel get angry, or feel some other emotions, whatever, something like that, even if you really couldn’t be happy, then not, Śāntideva was saying, why not make people happy instead of doing nothing?
That’s the main thing here. You should go out there and make people happy. Because somebody else is making people happy. You are unhappy. Sometimes more than just unhappy.
You are rich. You are really angry. Why not then you should just go out there and help and make people happy? So that’s actually the main thing that Śāntideva was saying. So it is very true.
It’s very true. We are totally with emotions and very, very sensitive. But then we couldn’t help others. We couldn’t make other people unhappy. But then somebody else is making happy.
Instead of just rejoicing, we feel unhappy. We feel envy. So the worst thing is we get angry and enraged. Totality does not make any sense, but we do, which is this monkey mind. So that’s why Śāntideva was saying, why don’t you just go out there and make people happy then?
If you’re really not happy that the first person was praising this second one, they are so happy with each other, but then you are unhappy. Then go ahead. Can you make other happy? That’s what almost there was just immediately kind of debate or something. Go ahead and help.
You just go out there and make happy other people. If you are not happy that somebody is happy, somebody is praising and making them happy. So that’s the main thing that Śāntideva was talking about. Also, it’s very true. It may come next, especially as Buddhist practitioners.
We do say prayers every teaching. If you are a Buddhist, then we do say this. We must say a refuge prayer, three times in the morning, three times in the evening. If you can also do it three times in midday, or nine times. But we do say this prayer, taking refuge in generating bodhicitta.
I go for refuge until I am enlightened to the Buddha, the Dharma, and supreme assembly by my practice of giving and other perfections, practice of generosity giving, practice of morality, practice of patience, practice of effort, concentration, no more learning, other perfections. By my practice of giving, by my practice of six paramita or six perfections, may I become a Buddha to benefit all sentient beings. See, benefit all sentient beings. So then now, if you are unhappy, your enemy is happy, then now your enemy is what kind of being? Your enami is not Buddha being.
Then what kind of being is your enemy? In this world, in this universe, there are only two beings sentient beings and Buddha beings. That’s it. Sentient beings and Buddha beings. But now your enemy is in which category?
It a sentient being or a Buddha being? If they are sentient beings, then we pray this every day. May I become a Buddha to benefit all sentient beings? They are also part of these sentient beings. Then why in that we are unhappy?
Unhappy when they are feeling happiness. Somebody is pressing them. Why are we not rejoicing with other people when they are happy? So then now the question comes. Are we really good Buddhists?
See, that’s a noun. Am I a good Buddhist? Or am I just the shadow of a Buddhist? Yes. These are very much here.
These are really we need to think seriously, especially if someone is Buddhist, someone who took Buddhist vow, or someone who is also practicing Buddhadharma. Okay. See? It’s at the very top. We do say it benefits all sentient beings.
Not only just that. Also here, Supplication, then dedication. See, we do this dedication. Look at it. We do this one.
Due to the merits of these virtuous actions, may I quickly attain the state of a Guru Buddha and lead all living beings without exception. How strong. And lead all living beings without exception into that enlightened state. Dro wa kün gyi dön du jang chub shying gyur shok, into that enlightened state. We do say prayers, these refuge prayers, which I mentioned to you, I go for refuge, etc.
Then now, finally, we dedicate like this. Then when we go out there, your enemy is happy, we are unhappy. Now, that’s very strange thing. We say prayer, benefit of all sentient beings, we dedicate like this, and now we’re supposed to be feeling happiness, rejoicing. Then at that point of view, we are totally unhappy.
Sometimes not only just unhappy, but angry also. Then now, as I mentioned before, what kind of Buddhists we are. See? These are the practices on a daily basis.
We really think about it. Otherwise, we do so many beautiful, wonderful prayers. We do, you know, giving such teachings. Kinds of teachings are so difficult, very complicated. We learn that.
And we are having so many tantric initiations, then we totally forget all these other things which are very, very much the foundation, you know. It’s totally the foundation. Then now we try to achieve a higher one, but this foundation is not solid. This building can be collapsed any day, see, because the foundation is not good, not solid. See?
First, we need to build solid foundation. Then we can build another floor, then another floor, another floor this way. So this is the point, I think, of the Gelugpa tradition when lamas teach to the students, I really very much respect it greatly, really unbelievable. They don’t jump around. They go like this.
Look at the Lamrim. It’s just the Lamrim. Teachings for a person of small capacity, then moderate, then great capacity. Great capacity teaching comes, and then it’s very, very strong there, isn’t it? See?
It’s beautiful, isn’t it? So, now we need to think about it. Before we really feel some kind of jealousy when your enemies are happy somebody who prays are also happy, instead of feeling jealousy or getting angry or any other emotion, we really think deeply. And that is all these prayers. Okay?
I’m moving on. Next one. Now, seventy nine. When your own good qualities are being extolled, you wish others as well to take pleasure. But when others’ good qualities are being extolled, you don’t wish yourself to take pleasure too, then I will come together.
Having developed a bodhicitta aim through wishing for happiness for all limited beings, which I just mentioned here is coming again, then why do you become angry instead at the happiness that limited beings have found by themselves? I think these two verses, Śāntideva explains in the verse another inconsistency regarding these issues that we just had in seventy seven and seventy eight. So now this one is easy to understand, actually. One is much easier to Now here is another translation, seventy nine. When people describe my own good qualities, this is very clear.
When people describe my own good qualities, I want others to be happy too. . When people praise you, people describe you, praise you, Oh, how wonderful you are, how wise you are, we feel very happy. Just assure. We are not only feeling happy, we want everybody to feel happy for me or for us.
See? Isn’t it? I want others to be happy, too. But when they describe the good qualities of others, especially the enemies, you know, I do not wish to be happy myself. See, now we have this mind projection, strange mind projection, of the selfish mind.
It’s the ego, actually the main thing. So now, having generated the awakening mind, here is the true wishing all beings to be happy. If you are practicing bodhisattva, which I mentioned, if you are a Buddhist, we need to say this prayer three times in the morning, three times in the evening, as well as we do these dedications. But then, especially if someone is like that, then wishing all beings to be happy, which we do in prayer every day, we say every sentient being must be happy, especially the four immeasurable thoughts. I will come to read it.
Sometimes it’s good to remind you, which we do say every teaching. May all sentient beings have happiness and the causes of happiness. Not only just happiness, but also 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 and hatred for enemies. It’s unbelievable. There are four different So see, we do say this one, isn’t it? So that’s exactly Now this text also says, having generated the awakening mind through wishing all beings to be happy, if someone is generating bodhicitta. The object of the bodhicitta is the other sentient beings, all sentient beings.
You cannot just exclude the enemies that are not included. Then, not all sentient beings. See, you are really discriminating some people, some sentient beings. That’s not really generating bodhicitta. Generating bodhicitta is all sentient beings.
Through wishing all beings to be happy. Why should I become angry if they find some happiness themselves? Even if you are not making anyone else happy, but you do pray, and somebody else is making somebody else happy. Why should we not be enjoying this happiness? Why we are not rejoicing this happiness?
Instead, getting angry and also feeling jealousy. Why? I think this is very, very good. This is very good. This is very important.
This happens to all of us. See? Why should I become angry if they find some happiness themselves? Enami found some happiness because of somebody praising them, praising him or her, because enami accumulated this wonderful result to feel happy in past lifetime. So why should we be feeling jealousy and getting angry?
I think that is very much almost like Śāntideva was hitting in our monkey mind directly, I think. Then the next one is again a little further more. Eighty one and eighty two: Having given your word that you wish limited beings to have Buddhahood, honored throughout the three realms, then why, when seeing them merely shown miserable respect, do you burn with spite at it? If there is someone needing care who is to be cared for by you and provided by you, for by you and that family member were to get something to live on, wouldn’t you be delighted, or would you be enraged in return? Yes, now it goes a little bit higher level.
If I wish for all sentient beings to become Buddhas worshipped throughout the three realms, then why am I tormented when I see them receiving mere mundane respect? Remember, when we are saying prayers and dedicating sentient beings, we are not only just dedicating some human beings or some few people, we are praying and dedicating the sentient beings who are in three realms: desire realm, form and formless realms. See? All these three realms. But then now here, our mind is very much jealousy, feeling jealousy and not happy towards these few sentient beings.
But on the other hand, we pray to benefit all sentient beings through all sentient beings. We couldn’t be tolerant towards a few sentient beings. Now look at it. This is very much contradictory. Here, our mind is totally we are sometimes very stupid.
We do say something, we dedicate something, but actually our action is very different. That means our actions are not the same as what we are saying, what we are dedicating. All these prayers and dedications are just words. There is no meaning at all. There are no actions at all.
So then now, it’s sad, isn’t it? We should feel a little shame in ourselves, sometimes, I think. Not downcasting, but sometimes I think you know, it’s good to feel a little shame. Oh, I had these feelings before. Now I’m reading all these Śāntideva’s book.
Oh, just step back. Less pridefulness. Oh, yeah. Really? I had these kinds of thoughts before.
So that’s why this kind of teaching is absolutely unbelievable. For me also, I am also learning very much. At the same time, I am teaching you, I am also learning, too. Until I attain enlightenment, learning, learning, learning, not finishing. There is no stopping.
If a relative for whom I am caring and to whom I must give many things, should be able to find his own livelihood, Wouldn’t I be happy rather than angry? If there is a relative for whom I am caring and to whom I must provide many things, and that relative were to get something to live on, wouldn’t I be delighted rather than angry? Let’s say someone you help, someone is really now standing up and doing their business things, really working very hard and making their own livelihood very, you know, good livelihood that he or she standing by their own two feet. But they just did it by themselves. Maybe we may help them a little bit, but after all, they are the ones who really work very hard. So that’s why now they are standing up their own two feet.
We should be happy for them. Why? Because they are the ones who created the cause. They work very hard. Why should be jealous?
Why should we be feeling jealous? Why? Because they really put so much effort and hard work. Every morning they drive to work, and in the evening they come back, and they serve their family. Tomorrow morning, especially their mother is unbelievable.
The mother is a very much unbelievable kind of human being. The first thing is that she conceives us. Then not only just that, she keeps us nine months. She vomits regularly, but now she cannot eat Because I know these things are my sister, you know, when she was pregnant, my nephew. I was just looking at her, an unbelievable.
She liked to eat certain food, but now she cannot eat because she avoided it. She didn’t want to harm my unborn nephew. She didn’t want to harm my unborn nephew. Then after the baby comes out from the womb, there’s so much pain. Unbelievable.
Then not only just that. The mother needs to raise the baby. It’s so much we call it Amala. It’s from our mouth. Never comes father’s name first.
All the time, mother, that comes first. So that’s why Buddhism is also saying mother sentient beings. Mother is very, very important in our life. I’m not saying father is bad, of course, father is too, but mother is very, very special. And that mother, she goes to work, she makes money, she supports her friends and her children.
She stands up on her own two feet. My mother did that. Then how can we be jealous? How can we be angry for her happiness? How can we be angry that she is standing up on her own two feet?
Just think about that. All other sentient beings, you know? But sometimes we do. For some reason, we feel this jealousy. Because they make their livelihood very nice because of their cause.
So, the other people they are happy when somebody praises them because they are the ones who cause. We should be happy for them instead of feeling jealousy or getting angry. So this is exactly the should be able to find his own livelihood. Wouldn’t I be happy rather than angry? So see, that’s exactly what Śāntideva was saying.
Such beautiful, beautiful verses. Also, have here a note. Śāntideva gives on the point that a Buddhist practitioner has pledged to place all sentient beings at higher state of existence, which is the state of the Buddhahood. Pledge, Buddhist practitioner, which is the Buddhist people, we pledge. We promise to place all sentient beings at the highest state of existence, which is the state of Buddhahood.
We took this commitment when you became Buddhist, when you took this vow we pledged. So then now, how can we be unhappy towards some sentient beings? Then we would need three different categories of beings in this world: Buddha beings, sentient beings, and some other category. See?
But that does not exist. Only Buddha being and sentient being. Only true. They are part of sentient beings. We must include them when we really practice.
Not only just when we do prayers and dedication, but actually when you’re really out there, when you’re facing something, we must include those people also. Feel rejoicing. Have this sense of rejoicing. Then the Buddha mentioned this king, which is a beautiful example Lamrim was giving us. There is this king.
When King Prasenajit asked the Buddha what Dharma he could carry out while governing a kingdom, he was told to practice rejoicing. Generating enlightenment mind and dedication, which I just mentioned, dedication is that we need to dedicate other sentient beings. Generating enlightened mind means that when you generate the bodhicitta, the object of the bodhicitta is the other sentient beings. Because we need to generate bodhicitta and also compassion. See?
Thank you. Now, for a break, please. Questions, please. Go ahead. Mental formation, same as mental formation and compositional factors are the same thing.
Aggregates of form, feeling, discrimination, compositional factor, which is also translated into mental formation, then the consciousness. When eye consciousness sees, eye consciousness sees the color. Eye consciousness sees only this red color. Eye consciousness is finished. Eye consciousness does not understand the color it belongs to.
Next to the eye consciousness, it’s called immediate condition. Immediate condition helps eye consciousness to send the signal to the mental. Oh, there is something. Then the mental, Oh, red. It rose.
That’s from the mental. Mental formation. Do you understand now? That’s a mental formation. Not this one from here.
Oh, that’s a rose. Red rose. Eye consciousness only sees the color, does not understand. Only that mental formation understands, oh, that’s from the rose. But eye consciousness is very important in order to see.
The mental directly cannot see the color. Only eye consciousness can see the color. Ear consciousness cannot see the color. Nose, tongue, body consciousness cannot see it. Only eye consciousness can see the color.
Then the immediate condition helps to associate with the eye condition and sends a signal to the mental. Then mental, oh, this is the pink color flower, or this is the milk from the made in China, that’s a mental formation, or compositional factor, something like this. Okay? Does it make sense? Good.
Does every resentment contain jealousy? What is that? Every resentment, must it contain jealousy for it to be a resentment? No, not necessary. No.
Some yes, some not. Just give me one example and I will have a specific resentment. No, not necessarily jealousy alone. When you dislike one’s mother, maybe there are some other causes involved. Possible jealousy too, maybe if your mother is very rich or if your mother is much more beautiful than you, maybe jealousy.
Oh, she’s older than me, she’s my mother, she’s so beautiful. I’m not that much. Oh, she’s very rich. I’m poor. Maybe involved.
But not everything is from the jealousy. Sometimes, you know, hatred towards friends and family also involved from the, you know, course, Buddhist point of view, not-knowing mind. Buddhist point of view, is lack of understanding of the karmic law of cause and effect, but from a mundane perspective, there is bad history involved. It’s not necessarily only jealousy. There are many other causes too.
Many, many other causes. Okay? Anyone? Attachment. Sorry.
Several weeks ago, you talked about attachment and not scratching. You know, if you if you itch, not to scratch. Mhmm. So today you talked about if you have a pain to accept the pain. Mhmm.
So if your pain is attachment, is it best is it a form of attachment to accept the attachment and not follow the attachment? No, no, no. I think, first of all, you need to fix your question before I give you your answer. The attachment is we cannot talk about accepting. Attachment is the attachment.
Of course, some attachments can be acceptable. Some attachments must be avoided. It depends on what attachment. Attachment may not necessarily be bad. We need certain attachment in order to survive.
Mother does have attachment to her children or her husband, her parents. Children do feel some attachment to the parents. Students feel attachment to the teacher, teachers feel attachment to the students. These are good ones. However, these attachments must be balanced.
If this attachment gets bigger, then everything falls apart. So that means attachment is emotion. Attachment is part of the suffering. Attachment also causes many suffering. Generally, this bad attachment is the principal root of anger.
Okay? So when I was saying suffering in pain should be accepted, it means suffering in pain is better to accept. Why? Because we are in suffering. Our body is I mean, real saṃsāra is contaminated by aggregates.
There are no good things that if we don’t accept it, it’s better to accept it than to do something and work on it. If you don’t accept the pain and suffering, which many people are, then they will suffer a lot. Look at this, sometimes, especially to some mothers, they grieve when they lose their children, even after many, many years. See? They are not accepting at all.
They are just letting themselves suffer. That’s a little bit naive, isn’t it? Who wants to feel suffering? Nobody. If suffering, that mother’s grief and suffering can get her children back, I will be a participant with her.
I will contribute. But that’s not true also. Better to give up. Let it go. Accept it.
Whatever you need to do, move on. Next step, you have to move. Accepting suffering doesn’t mean that do nothing. Absolutely not. We need to do.
Accepting suffering here is what I mentioned, transforming adversity into the path. That’s what I’m talking about, accepting positively, not negatively. Another thing I mentioned is to substitute our suffering for other sentient beings who are also sick and in pain, same as us. Substitute that. So that’s why the Tonglen practice, taking and giving practice, take their suffering into you.
Give them all your good qualities. So that’s what this practice is called, you are transforming adversity into the path. That Accepting does not mean that, Oh, I feel pain and suffering. Buddha says, This is my own karma. Do nothing.
No. That’s totally different. I’m not saying that. Do something, accept the suffering. There are many practices you can apply so that your life will be much even though you are sick, you are in pain, you will be very much different than the other people who do not know how to handle they feel pain, or when they get sick.
One thing I will tell you, has nothing to do with the sick. Actually, I did mention this one time. In two thousand and three, when I returned back to the United States, I was detained in Miami International Airport. They didn’t put me in handcuffs because there was confusion about visas. In the United States, there were so many different categories of visas tourist visa, religious visa, working visa, this visa, that visa.
I was confused. I didn’t know I had a tourist visa for ten years. A tourist visa is supposed to be to go there and three months after you have to get out from there, you can go again there, on and off. I can do this ten years. I don’t know why they gave me a tourist visa in the first place.
We asked them for a religious visa, but they gave me a tourist visa. Anyway, when I was in the United States, they changed my status of my visa, tourist to religion visa, but in my passport is still that stamp, the stamp versus tourist visa. Only I had a piece of paper, a religious visa. I didn’t know I was supposed to go to an embassy in Delhi when I was on vacation in two thousand and three. I didn’t know.
Nobody told me. Then I went to the United States until Miami, then they said, My honesty actually, Why are here? I said, I’m a teacher, I teach, which is true. They didn’t look at my paper, you have no working visa, you have no other visa. I said, Yeah, I do.
I showed this paper And this man just put his hand like this, you made a mistake. You made a big mistake now. You are coming with a passport. That passport In the passport, the stamp was only a tourist visa. A tourist visa, you cannot walk.
That’s tourist, isn’t it? But I already told them that I am a teacher because I had a piece of paper that I was showing. He said this paper, this passport, is supposed to be to to an embassy in New Delhi to get another stamp, like a religious visa. I didn’t know that. Anyway, that night they put me in one house.
There were thirty five students waiting in the international airport. They were so panicked. Lama Zopa Rinpoche, he was coming that year. I had so many things to display TKC, make it beautiful. Then finally I said, Would you allow me to allow all my luggages to my students?
Oh, no, no, no. Even one piece they don’t allow. I had huge luggages. Now all these luggages and me, they put me in one house, a big house. So many people there inside that house.
My friend, there is a problem. Some just handcuffs, some put hand in Some of us have no handcuffs, just sitting there. They are not allowed to go outside. In the beginning, I was so tired and it was very unease. This is the first time in my life I was thinking, thinking, Oh, Lama Zopa Rinpoche is coming now.
And there was no teacher there. Then another side of my mind saying, I’m happy I’m going back to India again. But my mind was also I wasn’t feeling good. I was so tired, almost twenty two hours. Now I’m going back twenty two hours.
Anyway, that night, people were crying, people were so angry. Then I was very different than them. Then I was laughing, wow! It’s very different now. My state of mind was calm, I was thinking all this goodness.
I was transforming everything, whatever happened, all this pain and suffering. It was just my purification, you know, transforming adversity into the path. Then I was also helping some of the people together. We did breathing meditation together. They had no idea whatsoever.
I just said, Yoga practice, come here. Around nine people together. Just do this one, this will help. We all did it together. Other people didn’t want it.
Some people came and I just tried to make them, comfort them. One by one they were sending us back to some South America, some Europe, some Asia, some China. For me, I’m the last one. Tomorrow afternoon, because my airlines only had one flight Lufthansa. I had to wait until tomorrow afternoon, three forty five p.
M. Until tomorrow. That night, many people have already gone. There are some people still sleeping. In the morning, most people are gone.
I am the only one there from morning from eight a. M. To the afternoon from three forty five pm. I was only in a big house, but there were some policemen who came, they were asking some questions. They know the Dalai Lama.
Then I talked to them about some teachings. It was nice there, you know? The point is, yes, I did it. That’s a good thing for me, whatever I learned was very useful. Otherwise, all these people are so angry, I can feel it.
There’s a bad energy inside of that room. You know, United States is very strict. They are very strict for nothing, but they are not strict for something that’s supposed to be strict. It’s very different sometimes. Little things make you big deal.
What would be one poor monk? What can I do if they are letting me go? There’s nothing, you know? But they don’t. These are just rules, you know?
Okay, any questions? Are you tired? A little bit. A little bit. Okay.
That’s good to sleep there. That’s good. That’s wonderful. Have that. People can sleep there.
That’s why. Where is your friend who sleeps? Is he doing okay? He’s working on his assignment. Okay.
Thank you. Now, questions, dedication. Look at the Buddha House Prayer book. Page thirteen, please. Love do show.
Tö chö chen zhen yang gen wa yi ten. Zhen jel wé kün chok top pur jé. Lord of Dharma, who aligns with various dispositions of those to be subdued, make clear in the light of your will, spoken advice. Essence of the Buddha’s Teachings,, foremost holy Lama to you who are supreme. O Lama, please, please live long.
Thank you very much.