Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. The verse “whatever I may do, I ask: what is my mind doing?” anchors this 95-minute session by Geshe Pema Tsering, near the end of his commentary on the 37 Practices of a Bodhisattva. He unpacks three interlocking mental qualities — mindfulness (holding one’s chosen object), guarding alertness (watching for intrusions), and conscientiousness (replacing non-virtue with virtue) — drawing on Śāntideva’s image of the wild elephant mind tethered by the rope of mindfulness. A concrete example shows how motivation transforms identical actions: the same commute to work becomes bodhisattva activity when the intent shifts to sustaining Mahāyāna Dharma practice. The session closes with a student asking whether watching television counts as practice; Geshe Pema Tsering answers that one must track both the screen and one’s own arising attachments, recognizing everything seen as impermanent, conditioned phenomena.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 2008 08 24 37 PoB.mp3
UUID: 4086a2b7-6f15-4e72-84dd-fe8dc8c4b33d
Teacher: Geshe Pema Tsering
Collection: 37 practices of a Bodhisattva (Geshe Pema Tsering)
Date: 2008-08-24
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 95.0 minutes
Words: ~6,292
To give us a good motivation and with the intention of establishing all sentient beings in the state of enlightenment in the state of Buddhahood and again one is going to study and practice these teachings on mind training and in this way will give us a proper motivation. Morning. And we start with the preliminary prayers. Start with the Heart Sūtra. Also, praying that that we can find a good house, a Buddha house, Geshe la says.
So thus did I hear one time that Bhagavan was dwelling on Vulture’s Peak Mountain in Rajagriha together with a great community of monks and great community of bodhisattvas. At that time, the Bhagavan was absorbed in concentration the categories of phenomena called profound perception. Also, at that time, surrounded by all the children, by the assemblies of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of the ten directions. By depending on my prostrations to all of you, may this word of truth be actualized. In the past, the king Indra dispelled the māras by reflecting the profound meaning of the wisdom gone beyond and reciting the profound words in daily recitation.
In that same way, I also reflect on the profound meaning of the great [perfection of wisdom] and recite the profound words in the recitation. May all diseases, poor possessions, bad conditions, all the negative directions, that which happens due to past conditions, may all of these be dispelled, may become nonexistent, may be pacified. So we’re approaching one of the last topics of this text with. And this topic is called training in accomplishing the benefit of others through mindfulness and alertness. And Geshe la was reading the the root text, the root verse, which reads, in short, whatever I may do throughout my activities, I ask, what is my mind doing?
Thus, it is the practice of Bodhisattvas to accomplish the benefit of others with continuous mindfulness and conscientiousness. Conscientiousness also is usually translated the word that is translated as conscientiousness is usually translated as alertness or guarding alertness. So Geshe-la was going again for the text and then you basically explained it. So whatever whatever actions, whatever activities we are engaging in, English that was then just, you know, pointing out that just whatever it may be, standing, walking, coming, going, eating, lying down, or working, whatever it is that we are doing, the whole point is that we, twenty four hours a day, we we keep ourselves mindful and watchful of what’s going on in our minds. And this is and this is this continuous practice is what the bodhisattvas actually do.
This this is the practice of bodhisattvas. And, Geshe lah, just brings it to to our awareness that we actually do not live our lives in in in this way. We do not live with with this mindfulness and alertness, with all this watchfulness. We actually, how to say, we give in to whatever it is that occurs in our minds, and then we let ourselves go along with whatever it is that is occurring in our minds, and we lend our thoughts to it. In this way, we are subject to all sorts of misdeeds and misconduct and so forth.
What we have to do really is change that and start engaging in all our activities with mindfulness, with this watchfulness, this guarding alertness. And not only that, because we are practicing the Mahāyāna Mahāyāna Dharma, the Dharma of the great vehicle. We should also do that with the aspiration of with intention with the that our actions become the cause of the enlightenment of all beings. When we’re talking about mindfulness and guarding alertness, there’s nothing really not to understand here. This is something that we all understand, that we know what it is, and we can all implement it.
Able. It is within our reach, so to speak. And Geshe-la was saying so with mindfulness and guarding alertness, then we increase our virtues our virtues, thoughts, and actions, and we we we try to arrest to stop our non virtues, thoughts, and actions. Now that is difficult. That’s what I was gonna say.
And going through the the commentary to that root verse, again, saying that the the the whole meaning and the whole point point of everything that has been taught so far in this text. I guess I was pointing out that we are in the very end of this text. There’s only one more chapter of the practice of what the Bodhisattva has left. So this is a variance of all the practices that we have been discussing. The text is telling us, all of them, they can be subsumed in this way to practice, to engage in all of the so called four activities of lying, standing, coming and going and so forth.
All the four activities with mindfulness and alertness. And to act in this way for the sake of accomplishing the great purpose of the Mahāyāna, good for the sake of accomplishing the enlightenment of all beings, this is the practice of Bodhisattvas. This is what we are told. And just a lot of explaining, so again all these practices from renunciation starting with the practice of refuge and then the six perfections and bodhicitta and so forth, all that comes about, we can accomplish those practices, in dependence on on mindfulness and alertness. And and without that foundation of mindfulness and alertness, and we do not accomplish anything.
We do not accomplish any of those practices properly. So that’s why it is said, again, this that this mindfulness and alertness is the very basis, the very foundation, and and the heart of the practice of of bodhisattvas, the heart of our whole practice And, again, going through the text, saying again, so then throughout these these four activities, again, coming and going, lying and standing and so forth, all the activities that we engage in in our daily lives. Again, we should be with mindfulness and alertness, we should be always inquiring what is this that is going on in my mind? Is it virtuous or is it non virtuous? And we should be doing that time and again.
And then there’s a next sentence in Tibet and it starts with changchub sem, which is, again, with this benevolent mind, we have an intention of benefiting others. Again, with this thought of benefiting others, we should be accomplishing the great dharma with with mindfulness and alertness. So what is this thought of benefiting others? What is this mind of this intention of benefiting others? Is it is it it is not giving food or or or lending a hand, a helping hand, or giving money or clothing and so forth.
It’s not what is meant. What is meant with this mind or intention of benefiting others is is that wish to accomplish the ultimate benefit of of all beings, which is the the wish to accomplish their enlightenment, their liberation, their lasting happiness. That’s that’s what is meant here. And again, Geshe la was going through the text. Again, with with this mindfulness and guarding alertness, we accomplish. We work with the motivation, with the intention of benefiting others, and accomplishing, then the two the two benefits.
And just Geshe-la was saying, again, the benefits of oneself and the benefits of others, the welfare of oneself and of others. And Geshe-la was saying and here, this benefits, this welfare, again, is refers to enlightenment, accomplishing the enlightenment of both oneself and others of all beings. And Geshe-la was saying. Again, so in order to illustrate that for us, Geshe-la is saying. So take for example our jobs.
Usually, we go to work only for the sake of with the only intention of obtaining money. But if we go to our jobs with a clear understanding that, again, I I need to go to my my work. I need to earn this money so that I can buy the food, clothing, and and and acquire the shelter that I need so that I can practice the Dharma. And the Dharma that we are talking about here, again, is the Dharma of of the Mahāyāna. It’s the Dharma that becomes the cause of the enlightenment of all beings.
So if if we go to our work with this understanding, with this motivation, I need this I need to acquire this money. I need to and and so that I can sustain my practice, so that I can nurture and sustain my practice of of this Mahāyāna Dharma. If we do like that Geshe la says, then then our our work becomes, you know, the activities of Bodhisattvas. And then on the other hand, if we go to our to our work, to our jobs, and the only thing we have in mind again is to acquire that money so that we can enjoy some good food for ourselves, and have a nice place to live, and go and see that show or that performance, and this and that, wishing for the the things, the little pleasures of this life, then again, the results that we are going to obtain are going to be nothing beyond that. They’re going to be just what we have in mind as in our motivations.
So we can see then how how the job we do, the activity, the action is actually the same. But if we are motivated to attain, to accomplish the cause of enlightenment, then that’s what we are going to accomplish. And if we not intent on that, if we are intent only on the on the things of this life, then that’s what we are going to accomplish. Again, lah reiterates to us, again, this is a very important thing. This motivation is the most important thing, is the determining factor.
This is what is going to Geshe-la was saying, quoting again some some very known quotes in in Mahāyāna Buddhism. Again, that what what makes one’s actions spiritual or not spiritual, makes someone’s actions Dharma or non Dharma is one’s thoughts and intentions. And here, what is meant by thoughts and intentions is the motivation, is one’s motivation. That’s the whole point. A motivation is going to determine if our actions are going to be dharma or not.
So this is very important, Geshe-la was saying, that we have the proper motivation so that we can accomplish with just the right motivation, without changing without necessarily changing our actions, our activities, we can accomplish the same goal. We can accomplish the goal of enlightenment. We can accumulate the causes of enlightenment. And and again, so we need to accomplish that, and, and that is accomplished with, the root or the foundation, the basis that will allow us to accomplish that is mindfulness and alertness. It is in dependence on mindfulness and alertness that we’ll be able to develop, properly develop, give rise to those motivations, that we’ll be able to then, on dependence on that, practice the Dharma, develop the mind of enlightenment, develop our minds that want to exchange self for others and so forth.
It is in dependence on some mindfulness and guarding alertness that we can can be able to do all of that. And Geshe la was going through a couple of quotes from the Bodhisattva way of life. And the first quote is telling us, those who wish to observe the trainings should guard their minds tightly. And, again, there’s another quote that says, all those who wish to guard their mind must observe the mind persistently with mindfulness and alertness. Thus, I beseech you with folded hands.
So again, Geshe-la was saying again in the text, there is one expression which is guarding the trainings. So we have we have various ways of of interpreting that. They have the three trainings of morality, wisdom, and concentration. And we have we have the trainings, you know, with all the six perfections. And we have I know generally speaking, we can explain that as our training in our our moral conduct.
So we have to guard our moral conduct. We have to guard all these practices. And the way that we guard that we protect those practices is is with mindfulness and alertness. And then, Geshe la is pointing out the last very the very last clause, very last sentence is saying again, pointing out that Śāntideva was actually beseeching us, asking us with his his hands forward, asking us to please, you know, practice it in this way. Cultivate mindfulness and other things in this way.
And this then is the way, this then is and this and other quotes we are told, tell us how very important it is that we act, that we engage in our practice always relying on mindfulness and alertness. Then we briefly explain what is this mindfulness that is being talked about. Mindfulness is not forgetting our goal or our object of observation which is then how to engage in taking up and giving up. English language is playing. So how to engage, how to take up those actions which are to be taken up, virtuous actions, and how to give up those actions which are to be given up, which is non virtuous actions, which are non virtuous actions.
So always be mindful of that, of this object observation. And then again, Geshe-la says, this is a very important point. And we go on to another quote from the letter to a friend, by Nāgārjuna, which says, carefully and always observe mindfulness because when it degenerates, all the virtues are destroyed. And again, Geshe-la just reiterates, again, is dependence on mindfulness that we will be able to accomplish our Dharma practice. We will be able to build upon it, our Dharma activities, meditation and so forth.
So we need mindfulness.. Without mindfulness, we won’t be able to hold on to the object that we that we that we desire to cultivate. And then again, have another quote from the Bodhisattva Way of Life where Śāntideva says, if I tie the elephant like mind tightly with the rope of thorough mindfulness, all fears will fade away. And just saying how this example, how this illustration is, the simile is so good because if there were to be a wild elephant, and again if that wild elephant were tied were tightly tied down, then there wouldn’t be any any we wouldn’t we wouldn’t need to worry at all. We wouldn’t have any we wouldn’t have any need to fear.
And the same applies to the mind. If the mind is tied down with with mindfulness, then again, we can easily hold on to virtues virtues actions, virtues thoughts, and and the non virtues mind will not come about. If if we are to hold on with mindfulness to the thought of enlightenment, to the thought of the mind of enlightenment, to the intention of accomplishing enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings, if we are to keep our minds focused on that, then the other minds, the other non virtuous minds of self grasping, of self-cherishing, and all the other afflictive emotions concepts that follow from that will not come about. They will have they will have no opportunities to come about. So, again, what the text is telling us that this is this quote then illustrates all the very many benefits and shortcomings of both cultivating and not cultivating mindfulness.
And Geshe la was just saying again our Dharma actions will come about in dependence on mindfulness. That’s what’s going to determine our ability to accomplish in a Dharma practice. If we have mindfulness, we are able to accomplish it. If we do not have mindfulness, then we won’t be able to accomplish it. And then again we have so what is a guardian alertness then?
Alertness is that mind that is investigating the situation of each of the three doors of body speech and mind and then recognizing there is any what it is that is that is good or there is faulty that might be occurring in these three areas. And then again, have a quote from the way of life to to illustrate that. Śāntideva says, to examine again and again the constitution of body and mind, this in short is precisely the characteristic of being alert. So then that quality of the mind which is watchful, observing what it is that is occurring in the field of body, speech, and mind, in the fields of body, speech, mind, again, that is that is what is called guarding alertness. So if we have first, we have the mind of mindfulness, is holding on to our observation, which is holding on to the mind of enlightenment, that wish to attain enlightenment for the sake of benefiting all beings.
And then there is another quality of mind which is watchful to see if there is anything which is not that mind of enlightenment, which is occurring in our minds, if there is any non virtue and so forth. It’s very likely that we are going to be accosted by non-virtuous because we are so used, so habituated with non virtuous thinking. So again, that alertness is the one mind that’s is going to keep watchful and examining, examining what what is happening in a body, speech, and mind, and and figuring out if there is any non virtue or if it is anything which is not our observation coming about occurring in our minds. And then arresting or acting in order to correct the situation. And what the text is telling us then how in in all the sūtra practices and all in all the tantric practices, again, all these practices, they rely on on mindfulness and alertness, and that’s why they are so very important, these two.
And Moreover, Geshe-la just says again all these practices whatever they are be they sūtra practices or tantric practices they all depend they all rely on the application of mindfulness and alertness and without without mindfulness and alertness again one cannot accomplish any of those practices. And Geshe lah is saying, we can see how this is actually so. This is actually so not only with this Dharma practice, but with our daily activities. Any action, any job, any work that we want to do, even concerning to this life, if it is done with mindfulness and alertness, it is going to be a job well done. We know that from our own experience.
And if we are not mindful and alert, it’s going to be, you know, an average job, if if that much, as Geshe-la says. Then we have another quote from the sutras which says that all that may be called virtuous qualities have careful as their roots. Then we have the introduction here of a different word which is bag yod, which is actually usually translated as conscientiousness. And the author decided to say this as carefulness, this this translator here. So the text is then explaining, again, what is this conscientiousness part, which is then, again, the root of every virtuous dharma.
And the the nature of this conscientiousness is a mind that if we engage in a non virtue, then again it abandons it, it gives that up, and then engages in virtue instead. And shall I stop there? And so so again, this in dependence on mindfulness and alertness that, again, conscientiousness will come about and we’ll do that. We’ll do that action of abandoning non-virtue and then turn into virtue again, engaging in virtue again. And and there are many, again, we there are many examples and many illustrations of, again, the shortcomings and the benefits and so forth of both lack of conscientiousness and conscientiousness respectively.
And Geshe-la was explaining. So again mindfulness is that quality of our minds which is then observing the object of observation of our choice. In the case of Geshe-la’s illustration, the mind of enlightenment, bodhicitta. Then guarding alertness is the mind that is remaining watchful to see if anything else is coming to interfere with that. If a non-virtuous mind is coming around interfering with that.
And then conscientiousness is the mind that will take will do the action. If a non virtuous mind comes about, it is going to let that go, and then it’s going to take up a virtuous mind instead. Okay? And then we have the the commentary goes on to say again that this in brief, this is the way that the bodhisattvas go about their conduct with with with mindfulness, alertness, and conscientiousness. And through this in dependence on the three, they act always at all times with intention of accomplishing the welfare of all beings.
And this is this is how they then directly and indirectly work to accomplish the welfare of all beings. And then again, Geshe-la was just explaining, is one particular text, one sūtra, the sūtra of good conduct, of proper conduct, which again which says that this is how is how the bodhisattvas engage in the in every activity, again, with with mindfulness, alertness, and conscientiousness. And then Geshe la points out again, this is then indicating suggesting that this is how we should also engage in every activity. And again and again, this is then how always with the intention of benefiting others they bodhisattvas then directly and indirectly continually train in accomplishing the causes of the enlightenment of all those kind mother sentient beings.. And then, just explain a couple of the the Tibetan expressions.
Again, saying that the welfare of others, again making reference to the enlightenment of all beings, enlightenment of oneself and others. And again, so cultivating, always cultivating that mind of enlightenment, that intention of accomplishing enlightenment for the sake of others, with in dependence on mindfulness and alertness and so forth. Just like Geshe-la has already told us previously today, again this is how we go about our our every activity. We are doing it so in order to nurture, to sustain our Dharma practice which is the Mahāyāna Dharma which is then the practice of accomplishing the causes of the enlightenment of all beings. And we cultivate this thought and not any intention, any concern for this life alone.
We give up any concern for this life alone. And again, have from another sūtra, the King of Concentrations Sūtra. The sūtra of the instructions for the king, again, is telling that this accomplishing of of it’s perfect the perfect I say, if we do not if And this this sūtra is telling us that if if our aspiration, what’s so called the the so called aspiration mind of enlightenment, which is then striving to accomplish, which wishes to strive to accomplish the the perfect benefit of all beings. And Geshe-la was explaining, which is that wish that may I attain enlightenment for the sake of accomplishing the welfare or the perfect enlightenment of all beings. It’s just that mind if I was then saying the text was then saying, if that mind does not degenerate, then again, the trainings of bodhisattvas are included, can be subsumed under that, including just that.
And this is what is said in that Sūtra, the instructions for the king. And then, Geshe la is explaining that what is being said here, that this wish, the cultivation of this wish to attain enlightenment for the sake of all beings. The goal the intent is to benefit all beings. The goal that we have in mind is to attain perfect enlightenment. We attain perfect enlightenment so we would that we can benefit all beings.
And the Geshe-la is saying that there’s so much included in this practice. The sūtra and tantric practice, they’re all included in it. All the paths or the trainings which are common to beings of small scope, are common to beings of middling scope, they are all included in this practice. There’s so much that this sūtra is suggesting is included in this practice of of the aspiration of mind of enlightenment, cultivating an aspirational mind of enlightenment. And so then again we have a quote from the compendium of trainees which saying again throughout all activities one must train in the mind of enlightenment and let all be preceded by the mind of enlightenment.
Moreover the training of Bodhisattva is nothing but this to fully purify your mind and again as I explained, fully purify your mind by the cultivation of the mind of enlightenment. So every everything every meditation, every training, every path is all included here. Is the most crucial, most important training of all all there is. So in dependence on mindfulness, alertness and conscientiousness, cultivating the mind of enlightenment and this is the single most important thing. And then the word for for purify also translated as can be translated as training.
It it it had both meanings accord with each other. Geshe-la was saying again, so we have to train the text is telling us to fully train to fully train your mind fully train your mind again in the mind of enlightenment and again by fully training our minds or purifying our minds with the mind of enlightenment again every other action practice or activity, spiritual activity is included in just that, in doing just that. So again, Geshe-la then explains to us. So again, I must accomplish the causes of the enlightenment of all beings. In order to accomplish that, going to engage in this and that practice.
And I’m going give up this and that non-virtue. And and this then, if if we cultivate our minds in this way, this then is the training in the mind of enlightenment. And then the text goes on to tell us that, again, if we let our aspirational mind of enlightenment degenerate, then, again, both of our minds of enlightenment, the aspiration and the engaging mind of enlightenment, they will both degenerate and the welfare of of of both oneself and others too will degenerate. That goal the goal will degenerate. We will not be able to attain it.
So it’s very important that we protect against it. Explain that if we if we give up the wish to attain the the enlightenment for for the welfare of others or or to accomplish the enlightenment of others, we can say. Guess, lot of the same if we if we if we start thinking that, for example, I I won’t be able to accomplish the enlightenment of all beings, they are too many, or they are too difficult and so forth. If we give up on the welfare of others in this way, then we are both giving up on both minds of enlightenment or both the aspirational and the engaging bodhicitta, the mind of enlightenment. And Geshe la is explaining that, again, irrespective of how able, how capable we are to produce, to give rise to this mind that wishes to accomplish the welfare of others.
Again, we should still do give rise to it as much as we are capable of, as much as we are able of, and in this way, not allow degenerate any further. Because again Geshe-la says, is pointing out, because if we do that again every other practice, every other path, every other training is included in that. That’s extremely important. And then we have another quote from the commentary on the enlightened mind again saying, even though you might not yet have the power to benefit others, always engender the intention to benefit. Whoever possesses that intention is in fact already active.
And Geshe la is explaining again that we might not be able to actually benefit beings right now as it is, but we shouldn’t dwell in that. We should still determine, decide for ourselves. Again, I must I must still I must still practice. I must still cultivate this intention to benefit. And the text is telling us because, again, if if we are doing that, we are accomplishing the causes to be able to to do that in the future, to be able to actually benefit in the future.
And Geshe-la was saying, we must keep on cultivating that intention, that wish, because these are the seeds that will make it possible for us in the future to actually benefit beings. Then we have a quote from Lama Atisha where he says, with mindfulness, alertness, and carefulness, always protect the sense doors. Day and night and throughout the three times, examine your mind stream repeatedly. Wants to stop here today. And I was wondering if you have any questions.
And, Geshe la was saying, so again, this is this is what is important. We cultivate the mind of enlightenment. So, again, for the sake of of benefiting all beings, may attain enlightenment. And, yes, I was gonna say, is there is nobody who doesn’t know that. We can all we all understand that.
We can all can all give rise to this thought, can’t we? But it hardly ever we can hardly we can hardly listen to such things of, you know, working to accomplish the benefit of others. You know, we we can we can only we can only be concerned. We are only able to be concerned with our own benefit alone, isn’t it? How this is mistaken our part, because the I, I because this sense of I, the me, is not really important, it’s not really precious as we think it is.
We if we if we reflect, if we think carefully about it, again, we’ll see how every happiness that we have ever experienced came in dependence on others, and it is all this who actually provide us all all happiness and benefit there is, and how the eye does the opposite and accomplishes every suffering. So we can if we think carefully for many engaging many reasons, again, we can understand how the I, the me, is not really important, and we can understand how it is a very distorted mind that thinks that holds it to be so precious and so important. And then if we can if we can understand that, and if we can bring this understanding about, then we will be able to accomplish that mind of enlightenment, is wishing then to for the sake of establishing all sentient beings and enlightenment, may I myself attain enlightenment.. Then we will be able to give rise to the thought purely authentically. Doctor.
Do you have any questions? Yes, it is a very big job. It is actually there is no job which is greater than this one, and we think of of these jobs as ministers and presidents and all that. We think of that as being big and and difficult and all that. But isn’t this compared to attaining enlightenment, it’s nothing.
It’s it’s nothing. So for example, the the take the prime minister of of of Australia. And, again, he’s working for his nation. And that is no more than what? How many people you have in Australia?
Twenty four million? Twenty two million. So that’s all he has in mind is twenty two million people. On top of that, he’s only thinking of the temporal benefit of these twenty two million people. He’s not thinking of the ultimate benefit of this twenty two million people.
Now compare that to the to the to the job of a bodhisattva, to the the task that bodhisattva has undertaken, which is which is to accomplish the welfare of all sentient beings without exception. And not only that, but to establishing them in the unsurpassed happiness of enlightenment. So if if if you if you one is able then to give rise to that intention to wish and may attain enlightenment for the sake of accomplishing the enlightenment of all beings. Again, one can allow oneself. And Geshe la was saying that, and this is this is one of those translations that come it can be complicated in English, but one one can be proud of oneself.
And, again and and the pride that is being referred to here is not the usual pride in the in the Buddhist traditional context of of being an afflictive emotion, but it’s it’s a good, healthy pride. Not not arrogance, but, you know, a good, healthy pride. One is doing the right thing. One is doing the right thing. One can know that one is doing the right thing.
Is that okay? First Geshe la says, before I finish posing the question, Geshe la was saying again, relying on on on applying mindfulness and alertness is something which is which is difficult. And that’s what he was laughing. Now as for your question, you you do rely on mindfulness and alertness. You do watch your mind when you’re watching the television in the same way that you watch your mind in any other situation.
You just watch your mind and see what’s going on. That’s it. That’s that’s the answer of question. Again, when we’re watching the television, see all sorts of stuff on the television, good, bad, sad, happy, all of it. And again, we have to contemplate.
We have to we have to watch our minds to see if any attachment or aversion are arising depends on those things that we are seeing. And, again, we have also to contemplate the fact that everything that we are seeing is all contaminated phenomena. It’s all. Phenomena. None of it is in the in in is actually in the nature of happiness or in the nature of suffering.
In in this way, we have to con contemplate how they are all compounded compounded phenomena. They are all, you know, bound to change, bound to disintegrate, bound die, they are impermanent. They cannot be relied upon and all that. And Geshe-la is in quoting one of the verses from the book, the thirty seven, from this text where Togme is telling us that all and every happiness of of cyclic existence, is nothing, how to say they are all like a dewdrop in a blade of grass. You know, the morning dew drop in a blade of grass, it lasts nothing.
And Geshe-la was gonna say we have to keep that we have to remain mindful of that fact that they are all like this this dewdrop on a blade of grass. Everything that we see, everything that we listen and hear, and all that. And and usually, we we think, oh, this is good. This is bad. Everything that we, you know, get in touch and contact with, and we think this is good, this is bad.
We have to rely on this thought of the dew drop on a blade of grass, and then all these illusions that we have about good and bad, they all be arrested. And if we act in this way, then again, whatever it is that we are watching on the television or everywhere else, again, then attachment won’t arise with regards to that. And we have to remind ourselves that those things are phenomena of conditioned existence, of the cyclic existence, samsaric phenomena. Mhmm. Can understand that and see things on and you say, if this is Dharma being observed or Dharma not being observed, you can see that.
But what I wanna know is, do you actually have to watch your mind responding to this so that you are you watching two programs at once? You know, watching the program and saying this is Dharma or this is not Dharma, and it doesn’t really matter anyway. Yeah. We have to watch both. You watch the whatever it is that you’re watching on the telly, you keep on watching your mind.
And again, when you’re watching something on the telly, you think that this is good. And again, you have to watch if the attachment is arising or not. You have to contemplate that whatever it is that you are seeing on the television is not actually real in the first place. So it doesn’t exist in the first place. It was not actually good.
Again, if you, for example, watching the Olympics and you saw whatever you saw happening on the television, again, you have to realize that whatever is happening there is just a television. Those are images of of they’re not what’s happening there in the television is not actually real. And even those people who are there in China being filmed, again, all of it is all samsaric phenomena, or it’s all condition phenomena. It’s all all compounded phenomena, not lasting, they’re not reliable, they’re all in the nature of suffering, and there’s nothing really to it. And just keep on mindful of that, and keep on alert and watchful of your mind in this way.
That the mind which is thinking, this is good, that is good, again, that mind itself is a distorted, a deluded mind. And just I was gonna say again, is it is due to the collection of of innumerable causes and conditions that we see, again those images appearing on that little box we call a television, and then our eyes then perceive those images. Again all due to innumerable causes and conditions pointing out the fact that it’s all conditioned, it’s all contaminated, it’s all compounded phenomena. If you keep on reminding yourself of those facts, again, then the afflictive emotions will not have much room to arise to come about. Any more questions?
Oh, yeah. Would you please?