Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 38-minute session, Geshe Pema Tsering opens with a striking reframe: the person who criticizes or obstructs your practice is actually your best friend, because they help close the door of saṃsāra. Working through a patience chapter in a Bodhisattva Deeds commentary, he explains the patience of not retaliating before turning to the chapter’s third major division — respecting sentient beings. The central argument is bold: sentient beings and Buddhas deserve equal reverence, because without both, enlightenment is impossible. That respect must also be sincere, since Buddhas are omniscient and see through pretence. The session ends with Q&A on how to genuinely treasure an enemy — answered through reflection on the goal of Buddhahood and the necessity of perfecting patience.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 58 BD 2002 08 15.mp3
UUID: badfbea6-c487-49d1-95de-b7200701ed50
Teacher: Geshe Pema Tsering
Collection: Bodhisattva Deeds (Geshe Pema Tsering)
Date: 2002-08-15
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 38.4 minutes
Words: ~2,256
Angry to the person, you know, instead should very, instead be happy and and and and and consider the person is your best friend. Because up till now, because of being up up till now up till now you we so one has been protecting one’s fame and one’s reputation and wanted to receive all the praise and so forth, and so attached it to those objects. And and due to this, because of those those attached or crave to those objects, and one cultivate numbers of non virtuous actions and have been circling in the cyclic existence and goes through the sufferings. And now the person here is criticizing, complaining, and indirectly, the person is helping you to shut the door of the cyclic existence or shut the door of saṃsāra and bringing you towards the the liberation path or liberation state. So therefore, should not be angry to the person, consider person as one’s best friend, and and, yeah, and one’s and be happy for the person.
And also one should not be angry to get angry to a person who who who who who obstruct you from practicing or cult yeah, obstruct you from practicing the six six perfections, like giving, generosity, and so forth. Because because if one really if one really wants to accumulate the numbers of virtues, you know, then one should so yeah. One should not be angry to that person as well. Instead, should maintain a patience called the patience, patient of, patient patient of not retaliating for the harms or not taking revenge, for example. And and that and out of the out of the hardships or out of the practices, that is the most effective practice or yep.
Yep. Most effective practice, and one should maintain patience with the person and should not be should not get angry to the person. So now we go to the third main subdivision third sorry, third main division of the particular chapter here. And just to just to refresh all the main, divisions is the first one, you know, Yeah. Yeah.
The first one is to, yeah. How yeah. To the the eliminate the anger and maintain patience or meditate cultivate patience. And the third one, which is now we have just reached here, the third one, which is being respect to the sentient beings. Yeah.
Yeah. So and this, this has three subdivisions. First one is being respectful to the sentient beings by thinking they are the fields of merit. And respecting sentient beings because that pleases the victorious ones. And the third one is giving respect to the sentient beings by thinking about the results of harming and helping sentient beings, which means that, you know, by knowing what are the results of harming sentient beings and what are the results of helping sentient beings. So by seeing those results, giving — yeah. Respect to the sentient beings. Yes. Yep. And now to the first division, I’m paying respect to the sentient beings by by by think by seeing they are the object of the field of merit, a field of merit.
And that has been explained in the next seven verses starting from one one two, a hundred and twelve. Yep. Eighteen. Hundred and eighteen. So the lord Buddha Śākyamūni has stated in the sutras that saying that the sentient beings the the sentient beings are the object to practice the the generosity and and, yeah, as a field.
So a sentient being is the is the field to practice generosity, and the virtuous ones are the field to make prayers or offerings. And how it has been stated in the sūtra is because it’s set forth that the sentient being is the field of merit for attaining Buddhahood as well. What it means is so so, what it means is sentient beings without depending on sentient beings, one will not be able to attain enlightenment. So in order to attain enlightenment or reach the Buddhahood, one one has to depend on the sentient beings. So therefore, sentient beings are the object — oh sorry — the field of merit for attaining Buddhahood as well.
So for for yeah. For that reason and for therefore, one it is not yeah. Therefore, one should not cause any harms and harm harmed any sentient beings. Because up till now, there have been numbers of sentient beings who have attained arhathood or reached Buddhahood and perfected the two purposes, by by by by respecting and and and yeah. By respecting and paying devotion to the sentient beings.
And here, the two they’re perfecting two purposes. It’s the the perfect the self purpose and the others. So so we pay respect and devote devotions to the the Buddhas. So likewise, it is the same one should give the same respect and devotion to to to sentient beings as well because because by being respect and receiving teachings from, from the Buddhas and one one reached the enlightenment or buddhahood. So likewise, without without without sentient beings, one one can’t attain the enlightenment.
So without because without sentient beings, one can’t perfect, one can’t one one can’t develop the bodhicitta altruistic intention. One can’t develop a great compassion and love. So therefore so so so therefore, you know, the enlightenment is also impossible without sentient beings. So therefore, both the sentient beings are and the Buddhas are the same, and one should pay the same respect to the sentient beings the way one give to the Buddhas. If one says, no, this is not a right thing to do because the Buddhas are more qualified and greater knowledge.
They have perfected all the attainments and abandoned all the faults and negatives, whereas sentient beings are not. Therefore, they are not the same, and so therefore, one should not give the same respect to both the sentient beings and the Buddha. If one says so if one says so, one should still not do do such thing because because in terms of in terms of knowledge in individual qualifications or attainments, it is it is not equal. The Buddhas are much, much greater than the sentient beings because they have attained entire qualities. But here, the reason why we should have we have to the reason why one should pay the same respect for both the sentient beings and the Buddhas is because of in terms of the results because in terms of the results, which is enlightenment or a Buddhahood.
Without sentient beings and the buddha, there is one cannot attain the enlightenment. So and and and so in in order to attain enlightenment in the sense in in the sense, in order to attain enlightenment, the both the buddhas and the sentient beings are needed. So if if sentient beings are not there, one can’t reach the enlightenment or a Buddha, and as well as without Buddha, one can’t. Neither yeah. Buddha’s without Buddha’s, there’s one can’t reach the Buddhahood.
So therefore, in terms of the object, the field of merit to attain enlightenment, both the sentient beings and the in the Buddhas are equal or same. So therefore, should pay the same respects. So one cultivates the numbers, huge amount of virtues and their merit, by meditating love and compassion to the sentient beings. And, and and and developing, cultivating those huge amount of merit are the qualities of those love and compassion to the sentient beings. So likewise, by making offerings and praying and respect and devotion to the Buddhas, one cultivates the huge amount of merit as well, and that is the qualities of the Buddhas.
So therefore, in terms to in terms so so therefore, both the merit or one cultivates by by offering to the Buddhas, respecting to the Buddhas, making offerings and and and respect to the sentient beings. Both merits, one attains from the different fields, but both merits one has equally become a cause for one’s attainment of enlightenment. So therefore, in terms of the cause to attain enlightenment, both the sentient beings and the Buddhas are same. So for that so so therefore, because they are same, one should pay one should pay the same respect and devotion and reverence to both the Buddhas and sentient beings. And now to the second subdivision, which is paying respect to the sentient beings because that will please the Buddhas or the victorious ones, And which has been which which yeah.
That has been explained in the next nine verses. Hundred and nineteen to hundred and twenty seven. So there is so one should help sentient beings and be respectful to and and devoted to the sentient beings. And then and one and not just pay respect and be devoted to the sentient beings, one should truly and honestly do it without any pretence. Because Buddhas are always watching.
And and they know that whether you is honestly doing some you know, Not just doing it verbally or ostensibly in a huge crowd pretending you are doing such and such, but in reality, are not. As well as not only the Buddhist and law of karma, the cause and effect. The karma is always there and which is infallible. Therefore so should not disgrace the sentient beings and respect them truly and honestly deep down from one’s one’s heart and always be honest to to to repay their kindness. And by doing so, then and helping sentient beings, respecting them, and by doing so is the best offering to please the Buddhas.
So So Geshe-la said that he will stop here today and we’ll take questions. Did you understand? Oh, yeah. Yes, please. Yeah.
Can you repeat it? Kind of like got got yours, but yeah. Yeah? Buddhism. Yeah.
Buddhism. Yeah. And Yeah. It is important and also very helpful to us important to us because because Buddhists, they know they are enlightened. They have they are omniscient.
They can understand what is going in our mind and so forth. So by if one is the import it important here is because by being doing behaving well and honestly paying and then deep down from one’s mind and so forth and respecting to the sentient beings, and that really truly pleases the Buddha. And by by pleasing the Buddha and it one cultivates numbers of virtues or merit, and that would those merit become will become a source for one’s attainment of enlightenment or or so forth. So in Buddhahood, then if one is not like one is pretentious and not really respecting, you know, deep down from one’s once properly for instance, properly, then that will not please the Buddha, and it will have non virtuous actions as well. But this is how it is important.
Yeah. So, yeah, it is very important. And Buddhists, they always being, you know, watching sentient beings. And they they wanted to help sentient beings, and they get very delighted and pleased when beings are doing properly, practicing and and not committing non virtuous and so forth. And and when they see the sentient beings not going in the right way and they’re suffering and then they yet cultivating non virtuous actions and they feel very sad.
Meaning, they develop pity for those particular beings, you know, it’s not going in the right direction and knowing that they will suffer. That’s one unique quality of the Buddhas, that and when we said they watch the sentient beings all the time, which and that doesn’t mean that they have to watch each and every sentient beings one by one. It’s and and and without any difficulties or any hardship, they can see all the phenomena, so called, all the phenomena and object of this whole universe or saṃsāra or sorry, the whole universe is like sitting in the palm of the Buddhas. They can see everything at once, and and they don’t have any have to do like the way we do, like what is in, you know, in a classroom.
Yes? What’s the best way to cultivate the mind that sees one’s enemy like a treasure? It is the best way is to see your ultimate goal, which is enlightenment, Buddhahood. And because and but yep. Buddhahood.
In order to attain enlightenment, then one needs to collect numbers of virtues or merits. And in in in terms of merits, the the maintaining patience has a huge — one has to perfect the perfection of patience and and and and cultivation of the yep. The maintaining patience has a huge cultivates huge amount of merit. And in terms of them in terms of patience and maintaining patience to towards enemies is the the the most difficult and has a great benefit of cultivating the huge, huge limitless merits.
So probably the best thing is to recall, to think about one’s ultimate goal, which is Buddhahood. And and by thinking the Buddhahood, then without perfecting the patience, one can’t. And attain the Buddhahood, and and to perfect the patience, the maintaining patience to the enemy is the best patient to practice. So by doing so, So but and so through this, one come to know that that that the best quality of patience is in the enemy. And by to attain that best quality of patience, so one then one can see, treasure treasure the enemy because because because because because the main, yeah, the ultimate or the best patience is within the enemy.
Alright. We’ll stop here. Sure.