Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. The image of a buffalo grazing contentedly while a butcher sharpens his knife captures the central argument of this 46-minute session: Geshe Pema Tsering contends that remaining lazy while the Lord of Death is always present is equally senseless. Working through the chapter on enthusiastic effort — the mental factor that joyfully and voluntarily engages in virtue — he first defines genuine effort as an inner orientation, not mere bodily activity, contrasting willing students with monastery children forced to memorise. Three forms of laziness follow: attachment to sleep and relaxation, inclination toward negative actions, and self-deprecating withdrawal. A Tibetan proverb sharpens the point: “Without enthusiastic effort, wisdom is like a corpse.” Antidotes are drawn from the root text, with contemplation of impermanence identified as the primary remedy for the first type. A Q&A closes the session distinguishing contaminated from uncontaminated positive actions, noting that only direct realization of emptiness makes virtuous deeds truly uncontaminated.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 62 BD 2002 08 22.mp3
UUID: e12cebc5-4d53-4b7f-be85-351ec8aa2c21
Teacher: Geshe Pema Tsering
Collection: Bodhisattva Deeds (Geshe Pema Tsering)
Date: 2002-08-22
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 46.0 minutes
Words: ~2,678
Explaining the reason why one needs to practice enthusiasm or enthusiastic effort. And the second one is and the explaining in details in the how to or mode of practicing. So now to the first one, which is the brief explanation on how the reason why reason of reason why The reason for practicing enthusiasm is explained in the first — yeah — by a single verse, the first verse, which is, yeah, of course, number one.
So what it means is one should cultivate the enthusiasm or I keep having a word enthusiastic effort now. And it is because if one if one wishes the he wishes the enlightenment, then should cultivate the enthusiasm because because because the the enlightenment or enlightenment or buddhahood is entirely dependent on one’s effort. And because it is like for example, it is like a butter lamp, and the moving of the lamp is entirely depends on the wind or a breeze. If there is a wind or a breeze, it will move the flame of the lamp. And likewise, see, with the enthusiastic effort, then things will develop like the bodhicitta or the bodhicitta will develop, and then enlightenment will be attained and get closer and closer.
So if one does not have the enthusiastic effort, then no matter how much sharp faculty or wisdom one has, the wisdom is of no use. There’s a Tibetan saying that without enthusiastic effort, wisdom is like a corpse, a dead body. And also Candrakīrti in his Middle Way, the Madhyamaka text, set forth that all the good qualities come from enthusiastic effort and which means yep. So if you if one has the enthusiastic effort, then there is nothing it’s impossible that which can’t be attained or, yep, attained.
So in order to complete the two yeah. It’s still from the Madhyamaka, Candrakīrti set forth. Yeah. And Sorry. You what?
Yeah. Middle middle way. The and also that, you know, to attain the enlightenment, one has to accomplish both the accumulations, which is accumulation of wisdom and the merit. And without having enthusiastic effort, the one can’t. So so the enthusiastic effort enthusiastic effort will will will complete both accumulations of wisdom and merit.
But now to the second division, explaining in detail the mode of cultivating the enthusiastic effort. It has three subdivisions, which is the definition or the nature of the enthusiastic effort, and its potential. Yeah. Uh-huh. And and abandoning the abandoning the opposite of the enthusiastic effort, which is laziness. And the third one is cultivating the positive side or yep.
Positive side of the enthusiastic effort. Yeah. So, like, positive side, which is wisdom and concentration. And now to the first subdivision, which is the definition of the enthusiastic effort, which is the enthusiastic effort is the the mental factor or a secondary mind, It is a mental factor, which happily cultivates or goes after positive actions.
So we think, you know, all this hard work of the body and speech is enthusiastic effort. But actually, these are the influence or actions of the enthusiastic effort. The enthusiastic effort is the internal one, the mental factor, which is a secondary mind. And that is very happy to involve or engage in positive actions. So with that enthusiastic effort, which is happy to involve, and that induces the actions of body and speech.
It’s likewise we said in the that was sorry. The the Tuesday class that the the definition of the giving or generosity is it’s the generosity is the mental factor as well, which is happy happy happy for giving. So, yeah, enthusiastic effort is, you know, it’s a mental factor as yeah. A mental factor, and that is very happily voluntarily without any influence or a force, you know, voluntarily happy to engage in a positive action. And just by, you know, performing a positive action or cultivating, yeah, the merit or a positive action doesn’t necessarily be an enthusiastic effort because, for example, like in monastery and the little kids in the monastery, you know, they don’t want to sometimes, but they’re forced to.
Teachers in the discipline make them recite and memorize the text. That is performing a positive action, but it’s not enthusiastic effort — it is not done voluntarily. Right. Yep. So some people misunderstand when you say enthusiastic effort.
It means it’s just the bodily actions. Right. Right. Reason that the Right. Right.
And it those actions have a different the greatness in their results in terms of the one which is voluntarily happily in a cultivate and one is reluctantly in a performed like as we said little kids. The result of those two are huge difference. Yep. And now to the second division, which is explaining the opposite side of the enthusiastic effort, which is the laziness. And to explain that it has two subdivisions, which is recognizing the laziness and its causes.
Yeah. It’s yeah. Recognizing the laziness, its causes, and its results. And the and the second one is and applying explaining the how to abandon the the laziness through applying the antidotes. And and that has And that has been explained in like Texas, one word and three lines.
This is seven lines. So I’ll just cut some quick things. Twenty. Yeah. It’s starting from first two from the second line.
You know? So it’s a portion factors are explained from that to the end of the third. Yeah. This one? And explain to the the the laziness.
It has three types of laziness. The laziness of — yep — the laziness of making both the body and mind non-serviceable. And the second one is the laziness of attaching towards the bad actions or, yeah, being not performing positive ones and engaging in the negative sides.
And then the third one is laziness of of being pulling putting pulling oneself back in the sense saying, well, I can’t do that and such and such. And I’m positive cultivating positive actions, and then just being lazy thing and underestimating oneself that I’m I’m sure I can’t do that, etcetera. And the first one is the laziness of the body and mind not being serviceable, which means it’s actually that type of laziness where one is so attached to happiness by, you know, being bodily and mentally so relaxed and lying down, like in sleep, and just attached to relaxing. You know? And and don’t not, you know, making use and not using body and the mind anyway.
Just, you know, cool down. It’s yeah. That sort of type of the laziness. Yeah. This is a type of one type of laziness and which which is to be abandoned.
But whereas for us, you know, we we consider them as a happiness and wanted to achieve it or cultivate it. You know, working so hard and then have enough funds to re and save up, save up, save up, and one day I’ll retire and get relaxed. And that’s we try to do that, achieve that. In reality, that’s one type of laziness. Don’t think of your time.
And, also, it’s the the craving towards the the the happiness or the pleasure of sleep, it’s laziness. So those are No. No. So those are under the first the laziness, you know, the the attachment towards the pleasure of sleep or being relaxed, you know, not doing anything. And even, yeah, think yeah.
One not thinking about the sufferings of the saṃsāra. And even if one thinks so, no. But just don’t bother to, you know, overcome the sufferings. These are the laziness. Yeah.
So, yep, these these are the demonstrations of the first of the three sorry. Of the three types of laziness. The one was, you know, the the craving towards the happiness of being relaxed or not doing anything. And the second one is being craving towards happiness of, you know, the sleep. And so and the the third one is happen yeah.
The craving towards happiness of the cyclic existence and not recalling this, yep, sufferings of the cyclic existence. These are the three types of, sorry, laziness. And now to the the second one, subdivisions. First, yeah, which is how to cultivate the the the cultivate the antidotes to abandon the laziness and which has also the three yeah. Three Three divisions.
Like, you know, there are three types of antidotes for the three types of laziness. And to explain the first antidote, which is antidote towards the the first laziness, which is laziness towards, you know, being relaxed and so forth. And that has been explained in the, yep, explained in the next eleven verses starting from the number fourth, I guess. Yep. Yeah.
Four one two three. Yep. To the number fourteenth. And, yeah, so what it means is that, you know, that one should not be lazy and should apply enthusiastic effort towards the positive actions, because it is very foolish and sad to be lazy and still attached towards the pleasure of sleep and so forth. By knowingly that knowingly knowingly that that they are the negative actions and not to perform so because and we like like, once once the the animal or or yeah.
Yeah. The animal’s been caught by the hunters, it is hundred percent sure they will be slaughtered. So, likewise, after having re received the rebirth, and that is to be sure that we that we have to die. And by knowing this, you know, and still being relaxed and sleeping and attachment to the the the the happiness is a crazy thing to do so. Therefore, by knowing this, you know, should not be lazy and see, you know, you have seen the people dying, your relatives, ancestors, and so forth.
And like like them, we will one day have to go through it and and and and and have to go through the Lord of Death. So therefore, by knowing this, one should not be attached to the happiness of sleep. And and and, yeah, it is not appropriate or not suitable. Not, yeah, not appropriate to be attached towards the the happiness of the sleeps. Yep.
So and Oh, yeah. Should be yeah. So should not Yeah. Should not be lazy and and attached towards the the pleasure of the sleep or the laziness. And it is like, for example, by knowing that you that the the hunter or the, yeah, the murderer in front of you and killing some yeah.
This killing the murderer is killing somebody. Yeah. But it is sure that you are the next in line. Knowing it’s going to kill you and still, you know, just sleeping next to the killer, the serial killer. If you see it there, then it’s a crazy thing to do.
It’s it is it is it is then doing such action is no more different than a buffalo, so he says. The buffalo because because we are the the lord of the death is within us. It’s always with us. It’s a matter of a time to get you, and it’s always there with you. And by knowing the Lord of Death is with you and still not applying enthusiastic effort and cultivating positive actions, just relaxing and sleeping.
And so, yeah, relaxing and sleeping next to the Lord of Death is a crazy thing to do. It’s like a buffalo. If one do such, then it becomes like a buffalo. The reason why I said buffalo is because the buffalo in this is so relaxed, and the butcher is next to him or next to the buffalo and and, you know, sharpening his swords or, you know, knife. And the buffalo still remains calm and relaxed.
And then if the butcher the butcher gives a little something to eat and they just, you know, be very get closer to the butcher and then happily eats it, but didn’t know it’s going to kill her. So likewise, by doing so, you know, by knowing that the Lord of Death is within us and always with us and and knowing that it is there and you’re still sleeping and being lazy is a very inappropriate and foolish to do. Yeah. And we’ll stop here. Yes.
I’m right. Yeah. We’re waiting for questions. Oh, sorry. Yeah.
No. Yep. Contaminate it. Yeah. So then contaminated happiness means to stop it.
So Yeah. We have been happy. Yeah. But we agree. Is that the contaminated happiness or contaminated positive actions?
I said something like that. I think contaminated positive actions. Yep. The the contaminated positive actions is to most of the time, the our positive actions, the the the the the the virtuous or positive actions we performed are the contaminated positive actions because we can we can excuse me. We can dedicate all those contaminated positive actions to become a cause for enlightenment or liberation.
But, you know, but they are not the contaminate sorry, uncontaminated actions. Because the contaminant yeah. So contaminated positive actions, you know, as a result, it will produce the contaminated happiness like the the the the the higher rebirths of humans and the gods and as well as all this happiness we receive even though they are the suffering of change. They don’t remain happy all the time. So on to become one’s actions, positive actions to be uncontaminated uncontaminated.
Yep. Uncontaminated positive actions or action is that to do so, one needs to have the direct realization of emptiness. So whenever one has the direct realization of emptiness, then any actions or any positive actions one cultivates, then those actions become uncontaminated actions. Is that clear? So therefore so unless one has attained one has realized emptiness or realized emptiness directly, then the the all the virtuous one can one has one cultivates are the contaminated positive actions.
Between contaminated and not contaminated. The Geshe-la has already explained here that the the when you realize emptiness directly and after having realized emptiness directly, then all your actions, positive actions are are or become uncontaminated actions. Up until then, then all the actions you have for the positive actions are the the contaminated positive actions. And yep. I think what Alan might be asking is difference between results and contaminate.
Rather. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That’s right.
This one. No. Yeah. And, yeah, the difference in the result is the contaminated positive action will produce the contaminated happiness, and the uncontaminated positive actions will produce uncontaminate happiness for a result. But sorry.
It’s actually yeah. The results of the uncontaminated positive actions will be only an uncontaminated happiness. Whereas for the results of the positive sorry. Contaminated positive actions will be both. It could be both — a contaminated happiness or an uncontaminated happiness because the the the sorry.
The contaminated positive actions, they can become causes to attain enlightenment as a result, which is the uncontaminated result. And and it also will have the contaminated happiness result, which is like the the human rebirth and the higher rebirth that we’ve got and so forth. Whereas the the result of the uncontaminated positive actions will be uncontaminated happiness for a result. The result would be uncontaminated, which means that result is the very stable and the reliable ultimate results. Got a split.
That’s true. Is there It is one of the main antidote to the laziness. If one has a true and real and very good understanding of the impermanence and death, it will make you restless. Mhmm. And about the death as well?
Okay. So that’s what we mentioned. Okay. Okay. This is what the Right.
Yep. One can say that they are the it is a result of those the the previous laziness and the ignorance. And due to this of lacking the understanding of the practices or teachings as well as not, oh, no, very keen to perform, like, do practices, etcetera. Those are the results of the previous laziness and the ignorance. Yep.
Seems okay.