Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. A student’s pointed question near the close of this 87-minute commentary gives the session its sharpest moment: if the body is dirty, inanimate, and to be viewed with revulsion, how does that square with the precious human rebirth we need for enlightenment? Geshe Pema Tsering resolves the tension by quoting Āryadeva’s Four Hundred Stanzas — “see this body as an enemy and still protect it” — and distinguishing craving-driven protection from virtue-motivated care. Earlier he works through verses 170–179 of Śāntideva’s text: the accumulated harm of self-cherishing since beginless time, a story of a universal emperor who conquered four continents and even heaven yet remained insatiable, and a systematic examination of the body’s faults — craving, inanimate impermanence, and the folly of grasping it as “I.”
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File: 07 2008 09 16 BW.mp3
UUID: 64837fd4-d6c7-44fb-a4e2-7168fc28a919
Teacher: Geshe Pema Tsering
Collection: Bodhisattva Way of Life (Geshe Pema Tsering)
Date: 2008-09-16
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 87.4 minutes
Words: ~5,674
To a good motivation, proper motivation, and with the intention of establishing sentient beings in Buddhahood, then we are going out to study, to listen and study the teachings on the Bodhisattva way of life. And this way will give us proper motivation. We recite the preliminary prayers. We recite the Heart Sūtra. Then we move on to the the dispelling of hindrances.
I and all surrounding sentient beings go for refuge to the Buddha, go for refuge to the Dharma, go for refuge to the Sangha. We prostrate to the Prajñāpāramitā surrounded by all the children, by the assemblies of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of the ten directions. By depending on my prostrations to all of you, may these words of truth be actualized. In the past, the deva king Indra dispelled the maras by reflecting on the profound meaning of the wisdom gone beyond and reciting the profound words in daily recitation. In that same way, I also reflect on the profound meaning of the great mother, Prajñāpāramitā, and recite the profound words in daily recitation.
May all diseases, spiritual possessions, bad conditions, all the negative directions, that which happens due to past karma and immediate conditions, may all these be dispelled, may it become non existent, may it be pacified. We stopped last time. We were reflecting on the disadvantages of sticking solely to one’s own benefit. That topic had three parts, and we’re approaching the second part. So the first part of the topic was ceasing to act solely for one’s own benefit by reflecting on the disadvantages of doing so.
Then we’re approaching now the next topic, is the second part of that topic, which is applying oneself to the welfare of others. And lastly, we’ll have a presentation in brief. So with regards to applying oneself to the welfare of others, we read the next verse, one hundred seventy and one hundred seventy one so it starts with the second half of one hundred seventy by having sold you to others, I shall not become discouraged but shall offer up all your strength to others having become unconscious, I do not give you to all living beings. It is certain that you will deliver me to the gardens of the hells. So Geshe-la will explain the first the first two lines of the verse, which is making reference again by having sold you to others, and that is by having sold having rid oneself of the self-cherishing that you that is referring to the self-cherishing.
And I shall not become discouraged, but shall offer up all your strength to others of that self-cherishing, converting that. And that is if one lowers one’s guard, guarding alertness and mindfulness and then it starts to get involved again with the interest of this life, the happiness of this life and so forth. That is to say if one again becomes overwhelmed again, overpowered again by the self-cherishing mind Geshe-la was explaining, then again that self-cherishing mind will lead one to hell again, that that will deliver one to the hands of of the guardians of hell, those beings, the denizens of hell. And again, Geshe-la is going through the commentary, and it’s pretty much in line with Geshe-la has already explained to us. So the commentaries are saying, if if I do not if I by selling you away by selling you away to other sentient beings, and again, with that, I won’t be discouraged, and I’ll be able to accomplish their desires.
I will be able to accomplish the welfare of sentient beings. I will be able to benefit sentient beings. Now if I become involved with thinking solely of my own benefit and and out of this lack of conscientiousness, then again, I do not give you away to sentient beings, then again you will make me accumulate negativities, you will make me perform negativities and by the force of that you will deliver me, you lead me straight to the hands of the denizens, the guardians of the hell realms. So I should definitely then engage in ways to destroy the self-cherishing mind, the self-cherishing attitude. Is that clear?
Is that okay? And then, so with regards to that same topic, is the disadvantage of sticking solely to one’s own benefit. Again, we read the third and last division of the topic, which is a presentation in brief, and that refers to the next verse. For ages have you dealt with me like this, and I have suffered long. But now, recalling all my grudges, I shall overcome your selfish thoughts.
So again, Geshe-la was just explaining, so having since time immemorial, since beginless time, what the Tibetans call it, since beginless time, since time immemorial, we have been motivated and driven by this mind, the text is referring to the second person pronouns. You, you have since time immemorial been overpowering me and I’ve been driven by you and so forth and because of that I have experienced suffering for such a very long time due to this self-cherishing mind so realizing that you self-cherishing mind have caused me to be born so many times in the suffering realms, have caused me to be born so many times in the hell realms, in the preta realms, in the animal realms and so forth. Again recalling all that then developing this dislike for the self-cherishing mind I show the firm determination to overcome you, to give to give you up, and then develop instead a mind that cherishes others. And then, Geshe-la is then reading the commentary, which is again saying very much what Geshe-la has already told us. So again, you have previously caused me to be born, has led me to the hands of the guardians of the hell realms, you given me away to the hands of the gods of hell realms, and for a very long time I had to experience suffering because of you.
So, remembering all the suffering that you have caused me, then I will make efforts to destroy, how to say, you, this the root of every falling shortcoming, which is this mind that thinks solely of my own welfare, of my own benefit and profit alone. Geshe-la then reading still on the same topic, the brief presentation of that topic, again we read the next verse one hundred seventy three which says: Likewise, if I wish to be happy, I should not be happy with myself. If I wish to be protected I should constantly protect all others. And Geshe-la was explaining with regards to the first two lines of this verse, if I wish to be happy should not be happy with myself again that referring to the self-cherishing mind to the mind that cherishes one’s own happiness and profit and benefit alone. So I should not be happy with that, I should not be obsessed with that, I should not be attached to my own happiness alone because then out of that attachment of the so called happiness or what what the attachment that I’m calling happiness then out of attachment for the whatever object I’m attached to I will engage in all sorts of of misconduct and misdeeds and so forth and create a lot of negativities out of that distorted attachment.
And then again, the last two lines of the verse are telling us what to do, Geshe-la was explaining. They’re telling us that we should, if I want to be protected and that is to say if I want to be happy, I want to be free from suffering, if I want to experience happiness in the future, should be protecting others. And Geshe-la was explaining I should be benefiting others, I should be helping others, I should be serving others. And on the other hand if I were to protect myself alone, I were to protect only my own interests, own happiness, my own profit and benefit, there will be no end to the suffering that I would experience by focusing my motivation in this way. So again, if I wish to experience, you know, this great collection of all sorts of excellences and happiness and blisses and so forth for a very long time, then I should not hold on to, how to say, I should not hold on to the mind that cherishes cherishes myself.
Mhmm. So I I should not I should not take joy in holding in cherishing myself. I should not enjoy cherishing myself. On the other hand, again, if I want to be protected, if I want to protect myself from all sorts of suffering, I should I should definitely by holding others dear to myself, I should always protect them. English, I wasn’t saying this and this teaching is is how can I say that in English?
It’s completely contradicts the norm of of culture and society and so forth. Totally against our our under our normal understandings. What we usually do, what we normally do, is that if we want to accomplish happiness for ourselves, then by holding ourselves as being very precious and important, then we we engage in all sorts of work and activities to accomplish happiness for ourselves. That’s what we do. And we are told, we are told here that in dependence on such attitude and conduct, all sorts of suffering come about.
We actually experience all sorts of suffering. And the reason we are told we are told that is because what we what we are actually calling happiness in our normal context, again, it’s not real happiness. What we’re actually calling happiness is in the nature of suffering. And still, even though we wish to what we are looking for is happiness by engaging in this by sort of by force of this fundamental misunderstanding we engage in our actions in our activities motivated with distorted motivations and we engage in our actions with attachment, engage in our actions with aversion, with jealousy, hatred and so forth and then instead of actually accomplishing any good and benefit we actually perform all sorts of negativities, we hurt other beings and we accumulate negativities in this way. Making reference to the the first sentence of of the commentary to that verse, which is saying that if we wish to experience, if if if what we wish is all sorts of excellences which are, you know, bliss and happiness or pleasure and happiness, if we experience that for a very long time.
And Geshe-la was making reference to that expression, this compounded expression which is a collection of excellences, is a bliss and happiness for a very long time, for a very long period of time. That is, that actually is liberation and enlightenment. But that is not what we are actually seeking. That this is not what we are actually striving for. It’s not liberation and enlightenment.
So what we have to so what we need, what we all need is liberation and enlightenment. If that’s what we want to accomplish, then we have to we have we have to stop cherishing ourselves above everything else, holding ourselves as so dear and precious, more dear and precious than anything else. We have to give up, let go of that self-cherishing mind. We have to start developing a mind that cherishes others. And then we have to start working to accomplish their welfare and their benefit.
In Geshe-la is then saying again, and when we are cherishing others and working to accomplish their welfare and the benefit, we are not giving them money or food or shelter or anything like that. That’s not what we are trying to accomplish. We are trying to accomplish the the perfect excellence, the perfect happiness. We are trying to we are trying to establish them in liberation and enlightenment. That’s what we are working for.
So again, Geshe-la is saying we we shouldn’t give we shouldn’t hold on to that self-cherishing, we shouldn’t give into attachment which is propelled by the self-cherishing mind. And Geshe-la was explaining this because the word in Tibetan is gawa. When it’s referring to self-cherishing, when it’s related to self-cherishing, then gawa, Geshe-la was explaining, has to do with attachment. It’s distorted mind, distorted motivation. So we shouldn’t give into attachment to this distorted liking which is motivated by self-cherishing.
And when we are motivated by cherishing others, this Gawa is a genuine care or concern for others. And then the Gawa here is not attachment. It’s distorted. It’s not harmful. It’s a positive mind, a correct mind.
So we move on to the next next topic, which is then examining the faults of the body. And so as for this topic, have three. This topic is divided in three parts. The first one is the shortcomings of not knowing contentment. Secondly, the shortcomings of the body being inanimate.
And then lastly, the shortcomings of delusion, of being deluded. And as for the first one of those also, which is the shortcomings of not knowing contentment, this topic alone has, again, two divisions to it. The first one, disadvantages of craving after the body and secondly the reasonableness of cultivating a non attachment to the body. So then with regards to the first of those topics, again, the disadvantage or the shortcoming of craving after the body, of grasping craving after the body. And then we have a a noted sentence.
If if if somebody or if if if we were to say that in order to accomplish the welfare of others, if I have the wish to accomplish the welfare of others, I should then grasp or by the force of craving, should craving or grasping, I should protect my my body. If we say that and Geshe-la was pointing out again this is the normal thinking. Geshe-la was going to say so the text is going to tell us otherwise so the root verse is telling us to whatever degree I take great care of this body, to that degree, I shall fall into a state of extreme helplessness. So Geshe-la was saying, reading reading the verse line by line Geshe-la was explaining that it is referring to our obsession with protecting our body so if Geshe-la was just giving a small example or illustration if today I give my body a very nice meal, for the body it will never be enough, tomorrow it will want a better meal, a bigger meal and so forth. There’s no end to it, there’s never enough for the body.
We shouldn’t be so obsessed with our own bodies because we will fall into this vicious cycle which is propelled by this lack of contentment and that will render us, put us in this helpless state as the text is saying so we should So we shouldn’t grasp or hold on to our bodies in a way that whatever little suffering may arise and again we are totally averse to it and we are always looking after or seeking after great pleasures and so forth. So we should instead let go of this craving of this grasping after our body and we should put our bodies to the service of to accomplish the welfare of others. So, again, Geshe is explaining the the the meaning of of the commentary again briefly. We should always explain the commentator is making reference that explain that if it is not reasonable to think like that, and we’re making reference to that sentence that was quoted before the verse that if we think that in order to accomplish the welfare of others, we should grasp or we should crave after the body and protect the body with with craving or grasping. And that is not right.
That is not correct. That is telling us because if out of this grasping, cherish after our bodies, we hold our bodies dear to ourselves, Geshe-la is explaining we won’t be able to bear even with a small little suffering. Geshe-la was saying even when a little mosquito comes and bites us. Because of our craving after our body, of this grasping that we have and this overwhelming obsession we have of our body we develop all this mental distress we create all this mental distress to ourselves and this little suffering becomes unbearable and that puts us renders us completely helpless. We are unable to do and to perform any good out of that with such obsession for our bodies.
Is that is that okay? Is that making sense? And by this, just explain it, so by the force of this craving or grasping after our body and this, which renders any little suffering unbearable. When we make all this, every little suffering unbearable, then we are completely useless in regards to helping and benefiting others. We won’t be able to put up with any hardship that has to do with related to benefiting others.
And still on the same topic, we read the next verse which is saying having fallen in this way, if my desires are unable to be fulfilled even by everything upon this earth, what else will able to satisfy them? And Geshe-la was just explaining basically the same thing, even if we were to get for our bodies all the pleasures that contained in Australia, still there wouldn’t be enough. The body would still ask for more, would demand more and so forth. English I was going for the commentary which again is telling us basically the same thing if we fall under that state of craving after the body if we get a you know then cherishing our bodies then this craving will then increase will continually increase and by the force of that craving after the body even if we were to get all the things all the pleasures and all the enjoyments on the face of this earth, again that wouldn’t be enough, all of that wouldn’t be enough, wouldn’t be able to put an end to fulfill the desires of that body. It will be impossible.
So who would have the ability to fulfill the desires of such body overwhelmed by this craving? It will never, it will be impossible for one to ever say it’s enough. Now it’s enough. And then we are given a way we we this we’re given an example. The the title makes reference to the story of this king, which I forgot the Sanskrit name, but Nala Nala Nala Nala Nala Nala, by the force of his karma, he was a will emperor, and he had a very powerful karma.
So by the force of his karma, he conquered all the four continents. Those four continents that we see in the mandala offerings. It wasn’t enough for him, so he conquered highest heaven or the desired realm, and forced the god of that heaven, the god who was the king of that heaven, to share his throne with him. And that wasn’t enough for for that man, for that king. And and still he wished he wished to have the whole throne for himself.
And by the force of his greed, by the force of this craving he had after the enjoyment of his body and so forth, then his merit deteriorated. And when his merits were exhausted, when his karma was exhausted, he fell down into suffering again. So then and then still on the same topic, we read the the the first half of the next verse. Being unable to fulfill them, though desiring to do so, disturbing emotions and dissatisfied, and the dissatisfied mind will ensue. Geshe-la is saying, so being unable to unable to satisfy the desires of this craving after the body, again, afflictive emotions will arise, and one’s virtuous minds will deteriorate.
So again, the commentary is saying exactly what Geshe-la has said already. Because of one’s inability to satisfy these desires. Again, this craving, this excessive craving, again, will cause attachment and hatred and all sorts of afflictive emotions to arise. And, again, every every sort of of of virtue, a virtuous mind, a virtuous thought will deteriorate. And by and and by the force of of of death, all sorts of will will of unpleasant circumstances, situations will come our way.
So we then read the next topic which is the reasonableness of cultivating a non-attachment to the body. And to that we read the second half of verse one hundred seventy six and the verse one hundred seventy seven: but if I do not depend on any thing or any material things the exhaustion of my good fortune will be unknown. Therefore I shall never create an opportunity for the desires of the body to increase. For whatever I do not grasp as attractive, these are the best of all possessions. And again, Geshe-la is just saying the same thing.
Again, if if we do not rely on all these material enjoyments and so forth again all sorts of excellence we will experience all sorts of excellence we will encounter all sorts of excellence And then in English, will explain in the the next verse one seventy seven. So again if I do not give so from then on I should not give any opportunity for this desire of the body to increase and by not holding anything as attractive, then again those are the best, those are the good, the best ones are translated as possessions, but they are things, those are the best things. And Geshe-la was the making reference to contentment and that that makes reference to one having developed contentment. Okay? And then, I guess, I was going for the first first two lines of the commentary which are explained.
If one then has few desires and has developed contentment and is endowed of contentment, then not only one will not know the end of all good qualities, of all excellences, also one will not be destitute of any material enjoyment ever. Never be separated from material enjoyment also. And then the commentary goes on, and then therefore, if if how do you say? By the force of that desire that comes out of this craving for all sorts of material enjoyments for the sake of the body. Again, when we have these desires, then again if we do not rely on the antidote to that, then they will continually increase time and again.
So because of that we should be careful, should prevent it and we should not give any opportunity, any opportunity craving for this desirous things, these desirable things to arise. Again, when we regard whatever it is that we usually whatever whatever thing that we usually have attachment for when we regard that as unattractive when we start seeing it as unattractive then again that will become by then, by the force of discontentment, become truly a good thing. In Geshe-la was saying so when we stop for the when the case of a car, when we stop obsessing and creating superimposing qualities that it does not have on it, we stop developing this attachment towards it and instead we see the faults that are inherent in the car and again we can see how we can then understand how the car is unattractive then by the force of this lack of attachment and the contentment that we have developed then we have a good thing in our hands. Then with regards to the shortcomings of being of of the body being inanimate. And we read the next two verses, one seventy eight, one seventy eight, one seventy nine, which reads, in the end my body will turn to dust unable to move by itself it will be propelled by other forces.
Why do I grasp this unbearable and unclean form as I quote unquote I next verse then whether it leaves or whether it dies what use is this mass of earth to me how is it different from a clod of earth? Oh, why do I not dispel this pride of it being I and mine? I was just going through the verse and again saying making reference that this body again is gonna turn to dust. Even when it dies at the end of its lifespan, the body is either cremated, and again, it clearly turns to dust, ashes, or we we we bury it, and again, it ends up turning to dust. So this body will become lifeless and will be unable to move by itself, be propelled by other forces, by other things.
This body which is so unclean, again why do I grasp, why do I hold on to it as I, myself, and why do I allow myself to in all sorts of negativities, allow afflictive emotions and non virtuous actions to come about for the sake of this body, this unclean thing. Again, dead or alive, it makes no difference. Again, what use is this machine to me? This clod of earth, why do I not and there is an expression of of usually, expression of pain in Tibetan, kihoo, which is an expression of of pain. Why do I not dispel this pride, this arrogance that is associated with this craving to this body as I or my body?
And Geshe-la was going through the commentary, which again, it says basically what Geshe-la has already told us. So again, this body, in the end, is gonna turn to dust. This it is going to become lifeless and unable to move by itself, and will be our bodies will be at the mercy of other people, of other beings and people. This body, which is compounded of flesh, bones, pus, urine, and so forth, of all these unclean things, all these dirty and unbearable things. Again, why is it that I grasp after it?
Why is it that I crave after it? Why is it that I hold after it as mine or mine and so forth? Because of that, by holding on to it, grasping after it, again, I will have to experience the sufferings of hell and so forth. So dead or alive, again, this machine is of no use to me, I do not have the slightest I do not have the slightest need for it. This lifeless clod of earth, which is which is this body.
So, again, why then do I hold on to this lifeless clod of earth with with this craving, with this by the force of this unbearable craving? I should never give in to the to the to the thoughts are proud, that take pride on on this, on this body. And then there’s, again, that that expression of suffering, which is, you know, an expression of pain. Oh, why why do I give in to this pride, to this with regards to this body. I should I should make effort to give up to let go of any and all pride in in in regards to this body.
So, I was wondering if you if you if anybody has any question with regards Who is the emperor? I don’t know the name. It’s in Tibetan, and I don’t know the name in in in Sanskrit. I forgot. Is it Brahma or Indra? I think I think it is Indra, but I do not know.
I do not know because it is not written here, and I cannot remember the Sanskrit anyway. Okay. Any questions? Any questions? Take your time.
Take your time. I I understand what Geshe-la is saying to not have inordinate attachment towards the body, But it is our perfect human rebirth. Absolutely. And it is also the house of our mind. And so I I actually find I’m not terribly attached to my body at not being how I would prefer it at all.
But I actually find it extremely useful, I mean, to you know, from the direction of of my mind. So Absolutely. Absolutely. You know, sort of reviling it. I understand the motivation of, you know, not to be, you know, inappropriately attached to it focusing on it and, you know, constantly touching it and cherishing it and stuff like that.
But it is our perfect human rebirth, which is what we are striving to do, which is what is said to be so hard to achieve. Yeah. So And we needed to to attain enlightenment. We needed to attain enlightenment. Absolutely.
So how does it go? How does it go? The two together. Right? Why why this Let’s mean It’s okay.
I understand. I understand. It’s a very good question. I would just And this is a your your question is very good because these things do come up. This is this is actually quite interesting.
So, yeah, we are being certain here not to We are being certain not to, you know, we’re told that we do not have the slightest need for this body and all these expressions here and and all that. It is useless, it’s lifeless, it’s dirty and all that. And we’re told not to have this obsession, not to be obsessed about it. On the other hand, we are told, yes, it is a precious human rebirth, and we need a healthy body to accomplish the to be able to accomplish the virtues that lead to liberation and enlightenment. And Geshe-la then, having said that, Geshe-la finally quoted a verse from the Four Hundred Stanzas of Āryadeva, which starts the first two lines of the verse are saying, you have to see this body as an enemy and still protected.
And even though even even though you perceive it as an enemy, protect it. Because you need a healthy body in order to accomplish merit, in order to accomplish virtue. And that’s the whole verse. So Geshe-la is saying, so yes, we have to contemplate all the faults and the shortcomings that are inherent to the body, and all the lack of attractiveness, and being, you know, and the suffering of change, and all that, compounded suffering, and all that. We have but still, again, just like you were we still need a good functional healthy body to be able to accomplish virtue.
And that’s what Geshe-la was just saying, Tanya, right now. So again, is a very good question because it brings very relevant things. Geshe-la is then saying, you know, everybody sees this seeming contradiction. When we hear these teachings and we say there’s a contradiction there, they’re contradicting each other. And what we have to realize, again, what we have to understand, Geshe-la was saying, is how it is that we are holding on to the body.
How it is that we are protecting the body. So one side we say, oh, we shouldn’t be attached to the body, we shouldn’t, it is useless, or we have no need for it. On the other side we say, we need it, and we need a healthy body, we need it, and so forth. So the idea is we need to protect it. So how is it that we are protecting?
What we have to understand is that how we are holding onto the body is, in one way we are holding it by the force of an afflictive emotion. Motivated by afflictive emotion, by attachment and craving. And then we pursue all sorts of pleasures and samsaric happiness for the body, and we engage in all sorts of negativities out of that. And on the other hand, we have as a motivation, you know, our liberation and enlightenment, you know, and the realization of virtue. So motivated by that, we guard the body, we nurture the body, we keep it healthy so that we are able then to accomplish virtue that leads to liberation and enlightenment.
So there is the way that we hold on, way that we protect it is different. The motivations again determine the whole quality of our actions, of our relationship to the body. So this is the important distinction Geshe-la was pointing out and again Geshe-la repeated himself in the end saying again so in one hand we have this attachment that makes us cause us to engage in non virtues and that’s what we have to stop ourselves from doing. We cannot use the body to create more non virtue. We have to use the body by developing a good motivation to accomplish only good actions, beneficial actions, virtuous actions.
Okay? So, the body is a result of many causes and conditions. And, as such, it is in the nature of suffering. It is in the nature of all-pervasive compounded suffering, and the suffering of change. It is all compounded pervasive suffering and it is the suffering of change it is suffering so if we then strive for the sake of pleasing this body or accomplishing the desires of this body alone, then what we are going to accomplish is only more causes of cyclic existence, of this of suffering, of all-pervasive compounded suffering and suffering of change.
That’s all that we are going to accomplish. So we have to stop ourselves from doing that out of attachment to the body, creating the causes of more suffering. And we have to instead protect our body and keep it healthy so that we can accomplish freedom from this cycle of existence, from this vicious cycle of existence, and we can so that can accomplish liberation and enlightenment. It’s very beautiful, isn’t it? Isn’t so, have to to protect our bodies and nurture our bodies.
But at the same time, perceiving the shortcomings and the faults that are inherent in it. And there is to say, perceiving it as the enemy. You see that that that is the issue of suffering, those kind of things. Oh, yeah. Is that okay?
Do you have any questions? No? Yeah. No. No.
No questions. Yeah. Yeah. Okay.