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 opens with a verse from the Guru Puja to frame a central puzzle: if self and others equally want happiness and freedom from suffering, why do we persist in cherishing only ourselves? After grounding the session in bodhicitta, he turns to the Bodhisattva Deeds chapter on conscientiousness, working through verses on the faults of disturbing emotions. The striking comparison at the heart of the session: ordinary enemies can only harm this body, but the six root delusions — attachment, hatred, pride, ignorance, and doubt — have driven us into lower rebirths since beginningless time, making them far more dangerous. Crucially, unlike human enemies, disturbing emotions must never be met with patience; the only response is immediate antidotes — meditation on ugliness for attachment, compassion for hatred — with complete eradication requiring the wisdom realizing emptiness.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 30 BD 2002 05 16.mp3
UUID: c34fb901-1a65-4bca-874c-6d6a8e510483
Teacher: Geshe Pema Tsering
Collection: Bodhisattva Deeds (Geshe Pema Tsering)
Date: 2002-05-16
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 46.4 minutes
Words: ~2,566
Uh-huh. The great master Pänchen Losang Chökyi Gyaltsen in his root text Guru Puja said that both self and others are equal in wishing to not wish even the tiniest, do not wish even slight sufferings and and do not have satisfaction, and do have satisfaction over happiness. So, therefore, should should cultivate this this cherish in others, which means that that both self and others are equal, are saying that wanting happiness and do not want suffering, but they even though they don’t wish suffering, but they continue continuously collect the causes of the sufferings and wishing happiness, but but but does do not know how to collect the causes for happiness. So because of because of lack lack of understanding, what we do is completely opposite, that cultivate the causes of sufferings and do not cultivate the causes of happiness. So, therefore, it happens because of lack of understanding that we do not know that that the both the self and others are same and equal, that wishing happiness and do not want suffering.
Because of that and we have the self-cherishing attitude that consider individual or oneself more precious than others and work and work hard to cultivate individual happiness and attain individual happiness, the samsaric happiness. As a result of that, one accumulate numbers of non virtuous action, which will lead one to a one to take rebirth in lower rebirth. Because this both self and others are same same wishing happiness and not wanting suffering, therefore, great master here, Pänchen Rinpoche, requests his gurus to bless him, to to to bless him, to gen that that he’ll he that he’ll be able to develop cherishing others. So, therefore, we we should also try to reduce our self-cherishing attitude as much as we can and develop and or increase one’s increase cherishing others. So when we say cherish others more, which means saying here cherish others more precious than oneself and should do the opposite the way one we do than the way one when with the way we do it these days.
So in what we need to do by cherishing others more precious than oneself should take, should consider others’ purposes more important important than oneself. So, therefore, we need to train here to cultivate the bodhicitta, altruistic intention. The altruistic intention is the one which cherish others. Yep. We we cherish others and do not cherish self.
And so it’s very important to train in the altruistic intention or bodhicitta even by by by by training or cultivating bodhicitta, even though one has not developed a bodhicitta, but by cultivating it has huge benefits. So therefore, we should we should train and and try to cultivate train in in bodhicitta or cultivate bodhicitta in all the time until we develop the bodhicitta. Because by doing so, the bodhicitta is is a very, very important that that that it cherish others more importantly oneself, and it and then and the bodhicitta wishes to free entire sentient beings from the suffering. So by training in by cultivating or training in bodhicitta, because bodhicitta itself is a very, very courageous mind. Therefore, by cultivating it, one receives huge numbers of benefits.
One receives a huge benefit out of that because and also by training in bodhicitta, it applies to abandon the self-cherishing attitude and the self grasping attitude. Yeah. So the bodhicitta, it directly counteracts or harms the self-cherishing attitude, and it it harms the self grasping attitude indirectly. So, therefore, we shall do a short meditation on bodhicitta here that that in order to free all these motherly sentient beings from the suffering and bring them to the state of ultimate happiness, I shall here perform all these practices and attain enlightenment. So we we stopped here last week, the third subdivision, which is of the being about the conscientiousness chapter.
So here, towards the third one, being very conscientious by thinking about the the abandonment of of disturbing emotions. And So here, as for the abandonment in general, there are two types of abandonment, so called the the obscuration towards omniscience. The obscuration towards liberation and obscuration towards omniscience. So here he’s talking about in terms of the the disturbing emotions, which is towards liberation. So it has three subdivisions.
So yep. Being conscientious, but thinking about disturbing emotions and being conscientious. And should not feel tired or hard, yep, towards towards abandoning the disturbing emotion, which means that it is it’s hard work to avoid disturbing emotions, but should not neglect it, take the hardship. And and how how to how and train and cultivating how to apply antidote training in the antidotes to of the disturbing emotions or of the abandonment. And for the first yeah.
The first one. The first one, the explain explaining the the yep. Disadvantage of or or disadvantages I’m the master. Explaining the faults of the disturbing emotions, which which are are that session is taught in the next eight verses starting from the verse twenty eight. Although any such as hatred and craving goes So these are our real enemies, like hatred, anger, craving, yep.
Any yeah. Hatred, craving, etcetera here, which concludes in the six root delusions. The attachment or desire, hatred, anger, and Pride. Yeah. Ignorance.
Is that it? And the and the doubt. The yep. Those are the six root delusions. So these are our real enemies, etcetera.
So etcetera here includes the rest of the six root delusions. So these six root delusions, they cause us harm and not on not just a simple harm. They they harm us very badly that that that they let us circle in the cyclic existence. And when we say they harm us, means they do not harm directly like you and holding knife and weapons in their hands and chop your hands so forth. They come they are very tricky and and skillfully trick us and and and and let let us become like a slave of them and and and make us dependent or we they don’t give us any freedom, and we become as the servant of those six root delusions and do whatever they says, which means collecting the non-virtuous actions.
And as a result of that, we undergo through the suffering. So those are the six root delusions. They harm us and very cleverly they are very clever, and and we we never know that they’re coming because they they they they causes harm to our our main mind or our primary mind that that that that and that makes us become the us to take the or take whatever they let us do. And because the six root delusions work through the so called secondary minds, so the then they come to us as very appealing. They’re thinking that they they give us pleasure or happiness and so forth.
And and and through this, because of and we become a we become, yep, dependent on them, and then they make us to develop make us to develop disturbing emotions like hatred and so forth by saying something and then get angry and then respond to the person or act so forth. And as a result of that, we cultivate the non virtuous actions. So those holy or the yeah. Those holy beings or supreme sup superior beings, you know, who sees that just the faults of the disturbing emotions, and they feel they develop a great compassion towards the the the other beings who cultivate lots of disturbing emotions. Well, for us, we do completely opposite that if we see somebody who cultivate lots of actions, let’s say, oh, he’s a great or she’s a great person.
You know? He’s very good at business and cultivate lots of money and etcetera and etcetera. So that the person, like, a very tricky persons, we might think they are very, very skilled and and and, yep, tricky and very good at business and and and but in the fact is they’re doing they’re cultivating non virtuous actions all the time or cultivating a cause to to to be born in the hell realms because being tricky and promoting self and deceit making money, business doing so forth, the person deceive others all the time and and and working for self-cherishing attitude. So, therefore, it looks like it’s not it’s not good to be a very tricky person. And and we completely see different than because somebody who is very humble and not very not very well off, you know, who just goes to work and simply work for his or her living and make enough and then and take the rules and work and get their their pay and then live very simple.
People prob probably think that person is not real is good, but not that good at, you know, making him or herself important. So the disturbing emotions are the main cause that which let us which let us circle or in the cyclic existence or never let us free from cyclic existence. So therefore, it is very important to to to see the faults of the disturbing emotions and apply antidote towards them. So, therefore, to in order to abandon those disturbing emotions, first, one needs to really recognize when they are coming or or or, yeah, when those disturbing emotions are coming. Because because person like myself hardly understand where when, yeah, when or yeah, when they’re coming.
Because because due to the attachments and and and we find something really nice and attractive and then goes up and chase that object. And and So we never examined when they when they are coming or not. And even even they because we are not very alert or attentive mindful, and whenever they comes, we don’t know, and we go after those disturbing emotions. For example, like finding a very nice object or a man or a woman, and then we find it appealing, and we just do not check our ourselves. We just go straight after that.
So therefore, do not let oneself work for disturbing emotions. And each and every action one undertakes, always examine before one goes through it. So no matter how much the the the god or human’s entire sentiments harms you, but no matter how much they harm you altogether, get together and trying to harm you, but but they can’t harm you the way the disturbing emotion, yeah, harms you. So, therefore, one should one should one should take it very seriously and try to abandon disturbing emotions because, like, those disturbing emotions harm you worse than entire sentient beings. The enemy of entire sentient beings, they can’t do they can’t harm much.
The best they can do is either destroy this present body or chop it into little pieces. That’s all they can do. Whereas disturbing emotions, you know, it will lead you towards towards towards the lower rebirths like and they like like hell realms and not just once in many, many rebirths and and and should not. So therefore and I should take it very seriously here and then try to abandon those disturbing emotions because disturbing disturbing emotions are not something outside. They are always within, No.
One’s self. Yes. Yes. So therefore, the disturbing emotions have been harming us since the very beginningless time. They they never let us to experience the happiness of nirvana or liberation and enlightenment.
And and and instead instead, they just cause us harm and then let us always lead lead us in lower rebirths and might give one or two higher rebirths maybe for once or twice. And the rest of the time, they always lead us towards the lower rebirth. So try also one should try one should destroy the the enemy of disturbing emotions. And to destroy the enemy of disturbing emotions, it’s not the same way it’s not the same one defeats the enemy the the the the the, yeah, the ordinary enemy. For the ordinary enemies, like entire sentient beings, the one you can defeat them or make them friends by being very nice and kind and do what they say and so forth.
But in doing so, and they will cool down or change your mind and gradually, instead of harming you in future, might brings you help. Whereas whereas the whereas disturbing emotions, you you should not be kind or be very nice to disturbing emotions. We should always apply the antidote to abandon antidote to counteract those disturbing emotions. Because if you are very nice and kind, the to disturbing emotions like the way you do to the ordinary enemy, then instead of getting better, they become worse and worse. And as a result of that, they will lead you to the the endless times in low hell realms.
So therefore, once you once you try to abandon these disturbing emotions, because as far as you have not abandoned disturbing emotions, then you you are still in cyclic existence. And and being in cyclic existence, then you go one undergoes through the sufferings. So therefore, should therefore, instead to free oneself from the from the suffering of the cyclic existence, then should try to abandon the disturbing emotion and to apply the antidote. The main antidote to abandon the disturbing emotions is the wisdom realizing emptiness. In order to eradicate the disturbing emotion completely, one needs to have the one needs to have the wisdom realizing emptiness or to need to realize the emptiness.
And at this stage, even though we don’t but in order to but in order to abandon the so called the manifested disturbing emotions, one do not need yeah. One does not need to to have the wisdom realizing emptiness and and, example, like attachments and so forth. And for that, one should try to abandon them by applying antidotes. So for the at this stage, to to apply antidote towards the the manifested disturbing emotions like attachment and hatred, one should one can apply antidote like as for the attachment, the apply the antidote or or like meditation on ugliness and towards love and compassion for the hatred. So whenever disturbing emotion comes, should never have patience for them and and should not be relaxed and rest because whenever it comes, try to apply the antidote instantly.
No. We just forgot to cover the second subdivision, is should not be patient for disturbing emotions or that it is hard to abandon the disturbing emotions, but should not neglect it, you know, and try hard to cultivate and to apply antidote towards disturbing emotions. And that has been shown by next seven verses starting from, I think, verse twenty. Yeah. From thirty six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven.
One, two, Yeah. So in example here is in our in our real life, if somebody that we lose the fight, somebody hits you with a big blow, a fist. Right?
And and and and and you fail to return it. So that really hurts what yeah. That really that really hurts you. And then as a result of that, you you feel very angry and and and hatred towards the person and want your mind you’re not relaxed. And even at nighttime, you lose your