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 pointed contrast: ordinary enemies may eventually disappear on their own, but disturbing emotions require active personal effort to defeat — they will never simply fade. Working through five Śāntideva verses on abandoning disturbing emotions, he explains how to recognize one as it arises and hold what he calls a “grudge” toward it — clarifying that this grudge is itself an antidote, not a disturbing emotion. The philosophical core: disturbing emotions appear inherently existent but are not, like images on a screen, and can therefore be uprooted entirely through wisdom realizing emptiness. A short Q&A covers handling food cravings through intention rather than craving, and closes with Geshe Potowa’s practice of tracking positive and negative thoughts with white and black stones.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 31 BD 2002 05 16.mp3
UUID: e62c38cf-fa77-4baf-9e7b-be1d883cb493
Teacher: Geshe Pema Tsering
Collection: Bodhisattva Deeds (Geshe Pema Tsering)
Date: 2002-05-16
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 46.1 minutes
Words: ~3,283
Thinking in many, many tricks or many ideas to to cause harm to that person, you you hardly rest. So instead doing this, one one should not do this. Instead of doing this, you try to to to think and look for ideas to abandon or harm the disturbing emotions because they are the worse than the other ordinary enemies because these disturbing emotions from the very beginning, beginninglessness of the time, yeah, been harming you and and took you to lower rebirths many times. And and if one if you do not abandon those, you’ll still they will still take you to the lower rebirths. So to to defeat or to defeat the disturbing emotions, one has to work for oneself and and and without applying antidotes.
If one does if one does not apply any antidote towards the disturbing emotion, they will never be defeated and and never be abandoned. It’s not like defeating other other the ordinary enemies. For the ordinary enemies, sometimes you don’t have to apply anything or have you don’t have to retaliate because because because it can be possible that your enemy could be killed by other person or or or or it happens that, you know, the enemy will die according to his karma by himself or herself, and you don’t have to work Eventually, they will disappear. But for these disturbing emotions, have to do it by yourself. Oh, yeah.
Śāntideva says We do not need to have a lot of patience — we do not need to wait for them to go by themselves. It is true that, you know, we do completely opposite because, you know, for for those ordinary enemies, you know, when it when you have a fight, we have a fight with the other enemy, and we know that they’re trying to harm us, and they come with the weapons, swords, and so forth, and you have in your hands as well. And you know they will hit you, but you’re still willingly to take whatever the suffering become and wanted to do something in what is called, harm the other person. And whereas for disturbing emotions, you never we never apply antidote, and we aren’t we we happily or willingly take them as yeah.
Take take them. So we which is not the right way of doing it. So therefore, you know, so you try to apply antidote and to to disturbing emotions and to get get rid of them. And to do so, it might it’s quite hard, but should be very willingly and and have have courage to to to work. Yeah.
Courage have have courage to abandon the disturbing emotions no matter how much time it takes. And it is suitable to work, and one should do so. So we act differently or or or opposite in our normal life. Here, it looks like, say, ancient Tibetan system. You know?
We what we people consider somebody who has a big scar on the head or somewhere, you know, thinking he he’d been in the battle or a fight, and and somebody hit him and but he destroyed the person, and and they say he’s the brave and so forth that we consider as well as person him or herself, you know, feel bit pride in the public. Yes. You know, it was a good fight. And even though you know? So, you know, to in order to attain enlightenment or buddhahood, we need to have we need to have the huge accumulation of of virtues or merit and abandoned the the obscurations.
And and and, yeah, the aban yeah. Abandon all the obscurations. And and to do so, you know, by doing such we do practice to abandon the the obscurations and the collect the the accumulation of merits. But and at the time but we never work so hard because we thinking it it happens because of disturbing emotions. It never let us work hard to do positive things.
Because by, for example, like, doing practice of to accumulate merits and the abandoned obscurations and disturbing emotions disturbs us in thinking, this I think I should stop here and have a rest. Yeah. So because we see in our real life that those the people, the fishermen, butchers, farmers, businessmen and women, and so forth, they work very hard. And and it it’s all it’s all it’s all because of their own benefits, just looking for temporary livings. But and they just undergo the huge hardships.
In reality, one does not really need to do so because work for this present life is just a few years. And, it will be yeah. We we eventually, one has to pass and leave this present present life. So instead of working very hard to sustain this pre this rebirth, one should do very hard to more effort on towards the attainment of liberation and enlightenment because it is appropriate to do so because because because those happiness the happiness of liberation and enlightenment are are the everlasting happiness. So, therefore, therefore, one should try to one should practice as much as one can in meditation and so forth.
And during the meditation or a practice, one feel one feel tired and so forth. And, of course, one will because because one is not just working for the happiness of this present lifetime. Because the I mean, this one is working to attain the the happiness of the liberation and the enlightenment. So therefore, it is it is, of course, one one should and one will, and it is hard hard work to do so. But by knowing this, think about at that at the time you at the time you feel tired, think about that how much one has to work hard to attain the happiness of this life itself.
But here, oneself is working for the the all everlasting happiness, the happiness of liberation and enlightenment. And, of course, one will feel tired, but but but should should try to rejoice that it is good I’m feeling tired because I’m working for that the very for for a very big aim, that everlasting happiness, and and feel rejoice that that you feel very tired. But instead of stopping the practice, you should feel rejoice. You feel you feel very tired and put more develop put more courage and continue with the practice. So Yeah.
What we do is we always cut it. We always develop the bodhicitta altruistic intention, but never apply antidote towards the disturbing emotions. And So we know that the the altruistic we develop altruistic intention and all the time and every day as well as we know the disturbing emotion harms us, but we never apply antidote towards the disturbing emotions. So and and that becomes like we are doing it intentionally even though they harm us, but we don’t apply antidote. But doing so with knowing knowingly, it’s it’s very sad and and yeah.
It’s like it’s it’s like and the person is but doing so is like a crazy. So therefore, now we have seen the disadvantages or or the faults of the disturbing emotions. Therefore, should now try in try to abandon those disturbing emotion in all the time through action as well as in thoughts. Did you know the that the disturbing emotion is to is to be abandoned now? Yeah.
If if you want to abandon or entirely abandon disturbing emotion, you probably won’t be able to sit at the moment. Well, they they’re meant to be eliminated. They’re in a way. Now towards the third division, subdivision, which is the mode of abandoning, disturbing emotions. And which is shown by the next five verses.
Is there a five? Yep. One two. Yep. One forty two, forty three, forty four, forty five, forty six.
So so therefore yeah. So whenever disturbing emotions comes, first, once you let it let it come. And while this is coming, so should realize, should make oneself understand. Now this is the disturbing emotions. And and by knowing it completely, then grasp that disturbing yep.
Grasp that disturbing emotions and then defeat it straight away. So yep. And when it comes, should recognize that this is the disturbing emotion and and hold the grudge, isn’t it, the worst, to the disturbing emotions and get rid of it. And but and and there is a little bit of the debate under the to the next line saying, when we said to hold the grudge to disturbing emotions, if asked, is that grudge is the real grudge? Is that the word grudge?
Holding a grudge? Yeah. It’s if the question asks whether that grudge is a real grudge or not, it the but it’s not the real grudge. In yep. Generally, the grudge is a disturbing emotion.
But when that when we when we hold grudge on disturbing emotions and knowing that this is the disturbing emotion and and and do not want to develop that disturbing emotion and trying to get rid of the disturbing emotion. And that and that grudge is not a real grudge. It’s not a disturbing emotion because it is the antidote to disturbing emotions. You should not take serious towards those action even even somebody cuts kills you or cuts your body or chop your head and burns. These are not just it’s not not not it’s it’s it’s not a great enemy because it just hurts only for this present life.
So the real enemy is the disturbing emotions, which have been harm harming you from the very beginninglessness of the time. And and and so if one if one want wants to harm anybody, it should be this that disturbing emotion. And not just harm, try to look in many ways to do your worst to this disturbing emotion and and try and and let and let this those disturbing emotion never to come back. So yeah. And the defeating the enemy of disturbing emotion is is very hard.
We always fail to to challenge the disturbing emotions. And and but but disturbing emotions the enemy of disturbing emotion is not not like the the ordinary enemy. Ordinary enemy or ordinary enemy can be defeat for a time being. Like you can either defeat in the court case or kill or or or get rid of the person from the area or the region, but sooner or later, it can be possible that person lives in the other country or other place and have his own children or had lots of gangs and so forth and later on take revenge or come back. So whereas disturbing emotion is not like that.
It is very hard to avoid abandon the enemy of disturbing emotions. But but when you once you defeat those disturbing enemy of disturbing emotions and they are not like other enemy, They won’t come back. So so therefore, should get rid of those disturbing emotions from from the root or uproot them completely. And by abandoning this, once you have removed the disturbing emotion from its root, then they it will they will never come back. And and because whenever you abandoned the disturbing emotion completely, you have attained the liberation or nirvana.
And in order to attain in order to abandon the disturbing emotion from its root, one needs to have one needs to have wisdom realizing emptiness. So at at this stage, we are not, yep, able to abandon disturbing emotions because because because of not because of lacking the wisdom realizing emptiness. So it is it it it happens because of not having the wisdom, realizing, emptiness. So therefore, in order to attain in order to abandon the disturbing emotion, one needs to have the the wisdom, realizing, emptiness. So this shows that wisdom, realizing, emptiness is very is very important to cultivate.
If one thinks the disturbing emotions are are comes from the causes and conditions, as well as the If one says the disturbing emotion are yeah, are causes and can comes from causes and condition as well as they they are inherently exist, therefore, we can’t or one can’t abandon to the disturbing emotion. If one says so, If one says so, then it is not true because the the person is saying that the the the disturbing emotions inherently exist because because they are they come from the causes and condition. So what we say here is because they are they come from the causes and comes as comes from the causes and condition, therefore, they are not inherently existent. Because if it’s if they are inherently exist, then it either it should exist on the external matters like a vast or within the internal matters like the the five sense power or organs, but they are not, and they are not between the internal and the external matters or objects. So therefore because therefore, those disturbing emotions are not inherent inherent existence.
So the disturbing emotions for us, it appears for us, they appear as inherently exist, but in reality, they are not. They are not inherently exist. They are like the same same as pictures on the TV and so forth. For us, it they they they appear as inherently exist, but they are not. They are free of inherent existence.
So therefore, you know, should not fear develop any fear towards the disturbing emotions because they they appear they appear to us as inherent existent inherently exist, but but in reality, they are not. And and therefore, should not fear any should not feel any fear towards disturbing emotion. They can be abandoned from the from the from the root. Therefore, should come to see them as free of inherent existence and and and cultivate the wisdom, realizing emptiness to abandon, eradicate the disturbing emotions. So therefore, it is suitable to work very hard or no matter how much one has to work to attain to to perfect the wisdom the perfection of the perfection wisdom or or which is the wisdom realized in the emptiness mode.
So it is it is very sad and and crazy to to go after disturbing emotion or cultivate that type of emotion knowingly that they causes they they cause that they cause harm towards oneself and and and lead one lead oneself one into this into the lower like hell realms and so forth. So should not let oneself become a slave or a servant of the disturbing emotions. So we’ll stop here and take a couple of questions, please. Oh, yeah. Yeah.
Good. Do you think you can have a disturbing emotion? We’ll give it a go. Yes, please. Food.
Yeah. Yeah. Fruit or food? Yeah. Okay.
Oh, mud cake. Yeah. Yeah. What Yeah. Yep.
What you can do is you please don’t see chocolate kind of mud cake or something dirty. What you need to do is, at that moment, one should not eat whatever the food is, food with the craving on it. Instead, you can you should think that I shall eat this. By eating this food, it will sustain my my body or yeah. Yeah.
My life or my body and which is to to do practice and so forth. But thinking in that way in eating the food, and that that is done without any craving, so it should be okay. Or if one practices so called the deity yoga, deity yoga, then one can eat as offering by visualizing oneself as deity and then making offering to the deities. Yeah. Know that.
Yeah. Flies. Yeah. You never done any merit on that. For for yourself or for the insect?
The fly. For the fly? Yeah. Okay. Probably not because because the the the fly, you know, land on those potable surface probably after food or something, and it’s just stuck there, unfortunately, and probably not any virtues for that.
Probably, there’s nothing different there. Once there was this they call kind of the she’s like, I think I told her before. There was a it’s about a joke, anyway, and the two two nomad from the Tibet area, they went to Potala to see Tsongkhapa’s palace, and they’re just going and they don’t know how to walk on the stairs and everything. Right. Potala.
Right? Oh, Potala. Right. It’s let’s say it’s the Potala Palace and So what the two nomads traveled in a pilgrimage. So it reached the Potala Palace and then they have never seen a huge stairs.
You know? So they just stand at the bottom of the stairs and how they’re going to get up. And one cat comes and goes to to go up there, and he just, oh, it should be like that. And they just all their hands and their legs on the stairs and walk up. And then and then what?
They went all through the entire building, and they have a little fence at the edge of the building, and the fence made out of of mud and so forth. So there’s a little gap between, like, a little pillar between what’s this what do you call? Anyway, so little stands and the little gaps between the stands. And because it’s so up in the hill, so I just wanted to look down the town, the person one of the person put his head through the the gap and he had a nice, you know, view the entire city. And later on, now his his his friend came and said, alright.
Let’s go. So he just and he tried to take his neck back, and he’s stuck there. He couldn’t take it out. So another person said and he tried so hard that he couldn’t take it back. So finally, now he was giving a last his last word to a friend, sending a message to his family down there.
Well, now I don’t think, you know, there’s a point waiting for me. You can go home and please give this message to my family. That that I died very badly, that my neck stuck or my head stuck between whatever that thing is, but tell them I died in a very holy place. And then the friend said, no. No.
Don’t say that. How did you get in? You know? He said, I just put my head in like this, and it just came out straight away. Yeah.
So I was just thinking about that nomad story. You know? You know? Died very badly, but died in a nice place. Alright.
Okay. Sorry about it. How how can one know they’re disturbing emotions? If one apply antidotes regularly or every day, then it is quite obvious that one can understand in comparing the past and the present how much disturbing attachment and so forth one has in a day or in a week. And and that is for the person who instantly or continuously apply antidote, not just for an hour or, you know, some days, and not someone who hardly applies it.
It’s like a Geshe Potowa. When he practiced from the very beginning, he he had a little two container and one full of little black stones and one with white stones. You know? So every time he he keep being very mindful whole twenty four hours and every time he develop a positive mind, he throws one white stone in the other container. And then every and whenever disturbing emotion comes up on negative thought, the black one.
So from the very beginning of the practice comes the black one more is more all the time. Later on, he’s applying.