Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 46-minute session, Geshe Pema Tsering concludes Chapter 3 of Śāntideva’s Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life by working through a cascade of analogies: bodhicitta as wish-fulfilling gem, undying nectar, a shady tree for beings exhausted by saṃsāra, a bridge between lower and higher rebirths, the moon cooling disturbing emotions, and the butter churned from all the milk of Buddhist teaching. He then leads students through the pledges of the bodhisattva vow, including the commitment to avoid the eighteen root downfalls. A Q&A follows, covering the mental state of dying or dementia patients at death, the “two wings” of bodhicitta and wisdom realizing emptiness required for enlightenment, and how bodhicitta develops from effortful practice until it arises as spontaneously as attachment.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 24 BD 2002 04 11.mp3
UUID: 2e8bbe71-1b5c-4083-bc1d-7de3cec491fc
Teacher: Geshe Pema Tsering
Collection: Bodhisattva Deeds (Geshe Pema Tsering)
Date: 2002-04-11
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 45.9 minutes
Words: ~2,839
So she’ll feel very happy and to have such chances or opportunity that to to develop those mind and rejoice here that that all this the mind, the mind, the generation of bodhicitta, which one have been hearing again and again and again and again today, I’ve been I have this opportunity to develop, and I developed those two types of bodhicitta and become have become the family of the Buddha. And now we’re making as you feel rejoice and wish and think that now I have become a family of Buddha, but entered the Buddha’s family, but now when when shall I become when shall I become the son of Buddha? Right. So making pledge here again that now today onwards, since one one has developed those bodhicitta and and and been born in the Buddhist family and wishing one one shall become the son of Buddha now. And for now today onwards, that I have developed those to make pledge and promise to develop those bodhicitta, and now today onwards, likewise, my fathers, the Buddhas, have done.
And I should may I show I shall do the same act activities which I I shall do the activities of the Bodhisattvas and Buddhas and never perform any actions which contradict which contradicts the the Bodhisattva state. So making pledge that today onward, I shall do according to the activities of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas and will never perform any actions that contradicts and also never commit any of the eighteen root downfalls of the Bodhisattva vow. So making pledge here again, along with the the the example saying a poor blind guy who found a treasure and but and how how happy he feel, you know, he or she feels. So, likewise, so feeling the same way. Now today through the power of one’s gurus, the Buddhas and so forth, you one has developed the precious wish-fulfilling gem like like bodhicitta or the altruistic intentions.
And so I so I will practice those bodhicitta and preserve them or keep them keep those bodhicitta like like like the wish-fulfilling gem kept by the the the blind poor guy. And I’m not saying that you preserve this bodhicitta because bodhicitta this bodhicitta is like is is is like the the the nectar how how should I put it in English? Not undying nectar. The if there is a nectar, there’s type of nectar. If one consume or take that nectar, one will never die.
So so so the and the bodhicitta, the altruistic intention is is the nectar. And and because by through this bodhicitta, by attaining bodhicitta, one through bodhicitta, one can one that helps the bodhicitta helps one to attain enlightenment. And and in buddhahood in buddhahood, there is no death. So therefore, this is how it resemble the analogy works. And and so so therefore, I shall maintain this bodhicitta.
So and bodhisattva bodhicitta is like like the treasure that that which gives. It won’t by having bodhisattva, one will not be poor because So by having one will not it’s lack of great treasure because one will not have any difficulties or poor or poverty because by having bodhicitta, one will one will have a satisfaction with with one with with one what one has. So, therefore, because of this satisfaction, one will never feel of poverty as well as will be never be shortage of any teachings. And bodhisattva is also the also is also the also a medicine to cure all the illness or diseases of sentient beings? So when we say it’s the best medicine to cure the diseases or illness, when we say it doesn’t mean that it actually cures one disease.
The reason why it’s saying here is because the bod if one has the bodhisattvas who have bodhicitta, and bodhisattvas, they wish when they get sick, for example, when they have a sick they get sick. And and because of this body altruistic intention, they don’t suffer. They actually feel more happy because they’re happy to undergo through suffering, you know, for the sake of motherly sentient beings. So because even so when they receive an illness or diseases, instead of getting in instead of suffering, they feel they rejoice it. They feel happy.
So this is how it says that this this is what it meant. It is the best medicine to cure disease. And and and bodhicitta, the altruistic intention. bodhicitta is like a tree for this those beings in saṃsāra. Tree for those being in saṃsāra to have a rest or take, yeah, take a break.
It’s it’s like like when it’s it’s very sunny day, very hot day, and it’s so hot to go out. And for somebody who’s in the journey, walking in the, yep, journey, traveling, and because of the heat, they tend wish to be under the tree just and have a nice breath under the shade of the tree. So, likewise, the bodhicitta is so sentient beings. The bodhicitta is is is like a tree where sentient all sentient beings in the saṃsāra, they’ve been tortured by suffering. And it’s and and and the bodhicitta is the place where they have a nice rest or a break.
And bodhicitta is also a bridge of for sentient beings to travel from the lower migration to the higher man higher so low rebirth the yep. Higher to to higher rebirths. And bodhicitta is also bodhicitta also So it comes with lots of analogies. You know? The bodhicitta is like a moon.
It’s like a moon to cure the the heat of the disturbing emotions. And bodhicitta is also the one to to remove or abandon the the obscurations of omniscience. So the bodhicitta is is very important, and it it is it is like the essence of the entire teaching. It is the bodhicitta is the essence of entire teachings like a butter of the milk. The the the milk is churned in big churning vessels, and the entire the the main the purpose of doing so is to churn the milk, isn’t it?
Is to is to get the the butter. That is the essence of the the entire milk. So like the bodhicitta is like a butter of the of the the entire teachings. And the bodhicitta is is the best offering to to please the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas and practitioners or heroes among the offerings. And and the bodhicitta having bodhicitta, then bodhicitta develops good compassion to to help the beings of six realms, the the hell realms, hungry ghosts, animal, human, god, and demigods, beings in those six realms.
So in the bodhicitta with with bodhicitta, one one can develop a good compassion towards the the beings of the six realms and and bring them and and can can bring those sentient beings out, yeah, from the sufferings. Alright. The bodhicitta is very, very important here. This is how it speaks again and again about bodhicitta. So truly bodhicitta is the main point.
Now bodhicitta is can can can give happiness to a sentient beings and can bring out of and and relieve sentient beings from the suffering. And it is the and it is the bodhicitta which gives both the temporary and ultimate happiness. So there are numbers of benefits and advantages of developing bodhicitta. So far, we we have heard all those the advantages of developing bodhicitta. So therefore, if one hasn’t developed a bodhicitta should try to generate a bodhicitta.
Those who have should try to expand or develop and increase the bodhicitta. And now the second subdivision is letting others to rejoice. So encouraging so encouraging other to rejoice and be happy here, saying that I have invited all the entire sentient beings as a guest that today that I’m taking this bodhisattva vow, made all these wishful prayers and make and make pledge or promise in front of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of the ten directions to develop those altruistic intentions. And so therefore, you entire sentient being should should should reach must or should rejoice here that for what the great master Śāntideva has done. So the master here saying that I have all this opportunity today, that that invited all these sentient the the sentient beings as a guest that I’m taking.
I’ve developed this bodhicitta in front of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of the ten directions and will maintain it until until I, the great master, attain Buddhahood. And therefore, I’m rejoicing here, and then to send all the entire sentient beings to try to develop the bodhicitta and rejoice along with me as well. So here concludes the third chapter of the, yep, the Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life, which is the full acceptance of the awakening mind. So here, as we conclude the full acceptance the chapter of so called the full acceptance of the awakening mind, when we see here said the full acceptance, which means taking bodhicitta, Therefore, in a one session, one should develop the bodhicitta here. So here in the text, says full acceptance of the awakening mind, whereas Geshe-la was saying Tibetan word, the it actually comes in Tibetan word, so called, means hold the bodhi, the altruistic intention.
So when we say hold the bodhi altruistic intention doesn’t mean Geshe-la was saying, it doesn’t mean like hold the cat or something. Now what it means is one should develop the bodhicitta within one’s mind. And and and so today onward, by developing that altruistic intention, we’ll now train in the the trainings or the activities of the bodhisattvas, like activities act activities like training in the six perfections and so forth. So these are the all the the the there are numbers of the advantages of developing bodhicitta as set in this text, but it’s not just a just a bit of the advantages of bodhicitta. If if one if one is to to describe all the benefits of develop all the benefits of developing bodhicitta, it takes ages and ages.
And and and, for example, like like, the the developing a moment of bodhicitta, the benefit of doing so and benefit of doing so is is huge. So it has a huge benefit. And so I request everyone here to to try to develop bodhicitta as much as one can. So here concludes the third chapter and and also the time itself as well. So take couple of questions if you have.
The job is, today, it’s the last of the the first term, isn’t it? Yeah. So Geshe-la was asking that where should he start from the next in the next say, next term. So she just to continue with it or or particular topic? You’re talking the the particular the dying person Yeah.
Yeah. Itself. Yeah. It depends on the person. You know, like, if the the person’s motivation before when one purse the person is able to do things, like, if, say, one is on drugs or something before taking a drug, if a person has a very good motivation, so forth.
And because of the drugs, now he’s drug he or she is dying and and can’t think of anything just in ecstasy. And and and and so whatever the person is suffering or so forth, can’t think of anything. So it depends on the previous motivation of a moment motivation a moment before into the deep, deep meditation. You know? So the dependent person’s motivation prior to, you know, the disabled thing.
So it depends on the person’s mind at the time of death because the whether the purse the person it’s a dementia, but the dementia person still has and still have a positive, negative, or so called a neutral, you know, motivation or or thinking, and and they can feel happy. They can be attached to it or they can remember something. So the their mind is still working. It doesn’t work the way we want to work or normal person does, but they’re still doing something. It depends on their mind.
So sometimes the dementia or dementia people are actually even better than the normal people. You know? But they if they do something, they really do it big. Like, they’re angry, and then they’re worse than us. Yes, Yeah.
The bodhicitta is needed to attain enlightenment. And so it is like two wings. In order to become enlightenment, one needs to have the both both wings, the the wing of bodhicitta and the wisdom realizing emptiness. Without wisdom realizing emptiness and bodhicitta, one can’t attain enlightenment. So so if one does not have, you know, those two, the bodhicitta and wisdom, realizing emptiness, then one cannot attain enlightenment.
Yeah. And with it’s very wisdom realizing emptiness is very hard to develop or realize that. And so in order to develop a wisdom realizing emptiness, one needs to cultivate a numbers of merit, accumulations of merit. So therefore, the bodhicitta is needed because bod but with with bodhicitta, one can attain or cultivate numbers of virtues or merits because the bodhicitta works for the entire sentient beings. But because sentient beings are numberless, according to the sentient beings numbers of sentient beings, one cultivates numbers of virtues or merit.
So therefore, how it connected to each other. So but through bodhicitta, one cultivates numbers of virtues or merit and through the power of that, one can develop wisdom realizing emptiness. So there are in terms of the Mahāyāna practitioner, there are two types of practitioners. The practitioner with the sharp faculty and with the lesser faculty. So and there are some practitioner who realize develop wisdom realizing emptiness before developing the bodhicitta, but those are the persons with the sharp faculty. And those with those without the sharp faculty first need to develop the wisdom sorry, the bodhicitta.
Okay. The first and the last. Yeah. So where to start. You’re developing developing bodhicitta, is it sort of a level?
Like, when you first start, is it just a little bit? And by practicing, you get sort of a more more? Or is it that you develop a little flash of it, and then you sort of sustain the bodhicitta. Do you see what I mean? The difference between sort of an amount, is this sort of a low level and you get more progressively more, or is it sort of or do you when you first start, do you just get it for a short period? So when we say about bodhicitta, bodhicitta actually is the mind that which is the mind that in order to for the sake of motherly sentient beings, we wishing to attain enlightenment for the sake of sentient beings.
That is that is the bodhicitta we’re talking. So so one needs to get more when we say develop the bodhicitta means one needs to get used to it, accustomed with it because because it’s not so that means one has to increase it. So that’s the actual mind, the mind which is bodhisattva. And at this stage, you know, we try to cultivate it. You know, we have to remind ourselves to develop the mind of bodhicitta.
And so every teaching and so forth, one dev try to develop it. So later on, one one can remember or develop the bodhicitta mind more often more often. And in the long run, then when whenever it comes without any forces or or, yep, remembrance just naturally comes within oneself, and that is the sign that one has developed bodhicitta. At this stage, we have to do it, think again and again. So whenever the bodhicitta comes forcefully by itself or naturally, and that is the sign of developing a bodhicitta.
It is like, example, like attachment so forth. We don’t need to need to put pressure or work hard to develop attachment. Just just the moment you see something beautiful, just attachment comes. Like that. So it looks like a bodhicitta should be like that.
So this is how the one should develop the bodhicitta. So so this is how one meditate again and again. So the word meditate is the common common Tibetan which is to be familiarized with. No. Because in the previous life, for beginningless time, you know, we’re so used accustomed with the attachment and anger.
So this is how it comes for us at the moment. You know? You don’t need much and it just comes. Yes. And what was they did to what time I used to yes, please.
What was that? So when one talks about taking a bodhisattva well, it actually means they engage in bodhisattva. And to do so, one needs to formally take it from the masters or gurus. And and it’s not that easy. Once one have taken the Bodhisattva vows, then there are numbers to be, you know, maintained, you know, like Bodhisattva vows like the eighteen downfalls, the root downfalls, and so forth.
And