Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. Opening on Togmé Zangpo’s petition to gurus and Buddhas to generate bodhicitta, Geshe Pema Tsering launches a concise tour of saṃsāra’s mechanics. In this 17-minute commentary, he explains why practitioners fail to recognize suffering in pleasant human and god-realm rebirths: the virtuous causes that produced those lives make the happiness feel genuine, masking its conditioned nature. He maps the three types of karma — positive, negative, and fluctuating — to their respective rebirths, names the three poisons (desire, hatred, ignorance) as the root disturbing emotions, and argues that even practice aimed only at good rebirths is misdirected — all virtue should point toward liberation and Buddhahood for all beings. The session closes with a guided meditation on bodhicitta and instruction to set this altruistic intention at the start of any practice, whether Tārā, Vajrasattva, or anything else.
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File: 11 Guide 2002 05 09.mp3
UUID: ab82e878-829e-4427-b6d9-384c3a87effe
Teacher: Geshe Pema Tsering
Collection: Bodhisattva Way of Life (Geshe Pema Tsering)
Date: 2002-05-09
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 16.6 minutes
Words: ~1,105
So great master Togmé Zangpo in his text so called the foundation of all good qualities said that, like oneself, all motherly sentient beings are also also being born in the the ocean or the ocean of cyclic existence or saṃsāra. So therefore so I shall here take I shall here take the burden of of burden to free all these motherly sentient beings from the suffering of cyclic existence, and and may may the gurus and Buddhas bless me to generate this bodhicitta. Many people, they don’t know that they are wandering in the cyclic existence and undergoes through the sufferings of saṃsāra. So in order to understand, to realize how one circles in the cyclic existence and undergoes through the suffering, we need to go through the practices of hearing and contemplation on the teachings. So in order to realize how one circles the cyclic existence and undergoes the suffering, because one needs to know the one needs one needs to recognize the sufferings of the cyclic existence.
So in order to by knowing this by recognizing the sufferings of the cyclic existence, then should try to abandon or abandon the causes of the suffering of cyclic existence. And the and the the causes causes for all the sufferings are are the disturbing emotions and the action. So therefore one needs to practice to avoid or abandon the actions and the disturbing emotions which are the causes for sufferings. So so we need to abandon those the action and disturbing emotions who are the causes, which are the causes for the suffering of cyclic existence. Existence.
And in order to have abandoned those two, one one also needs to recognize what what what are recognize both the actions and the disturbing emotions. And as for the disturbing emotions, the main disturbing emotions are so called the three poisons, The desire, hatred, and ignorance or confusion. These are the three main disturbing emotions. And further more details than there are forty-four disturbing emotions in numbers. And as for the actions, there are three types of actions.
The positive actions, negative actions, and so called the fluctuating action. So the first yep. The the and the the positive actions, they give rebirth towards the the humans and the god of so called the desire realms or the gods who are in desire realms. And negative or non virtuous actions result one to take rebirth and lower rebirths. And the third one, so called fluctuating action, results one to take birth in form and formless in the god realm, so called form and formless god realm.
And we all understand the suffering of the sufferings in the lower realms, animal, hungry ghosts and hell realms. But people who hardly recognize the sufferings of the those human realms human and the god realms because in because because their causes are the virtuous actions or positive actions which act as a causes for them to take rebirth in the god and human realms. And because their causes are also the positive actions and they have they they they have to have they receive this happiness of cyclic existence. So for that reason, they we we hardly recognize the sufferings of the of those two realms. So therefore, practice of small scope, of small scope, which the main goal is to attain the high rebirths in future life or in the next life.
So that implies actually the practice of small scope strive for the cyclic existence or take rebirth in cyclic existence. So because their practice is to take rebirth in cyclic existence, in reality we should not wish to take rebirth in cyclic existence. For that reason, positive or whatever practices or virtues one collected one collects should collect it for the for the attainment of liberation or nirvana. So therefore, the the the great master is that in that first line of that verse which Geshe-la recited earlier this beginning of the class. Like oneself, all motherly sentient beings are born in the ocean of cyclic existence.
In that ocean of cyclic existence has both the sufferings and happiness, and that happiness is the happiness of saṃsāra. So we make mistake that that we see we we don’t recognize that the happiness of saṃsāra is the suffering. In reality it is a suffering even though we see them as a happiness. So therefore, so so whatever practice one performs should not should not perform it to attain the happiness of cyclic existence. One should do it to become or make it make one’s practice become the causes to attain, not only the nirvana to attain the Buddhahood.
So as like oneself, all motherly sentient beings motherly sentient beings also are are yep. Goes through the suffering of cyclic existence. So therefore we a responsibility or responsible to take the burden of freeing all this freeing sentient beings from the suffering. So here, we are making a petition or request to one’s the gurus and the buddhas wishing to develop a bodhicitta which willingly bodhicitta within oneself as soon as possible. And the bodhicitta is the mind which is which which will willingly to accept the burden of freeing sentient beings from suffering.
So should do should do a meditation here on this bodhicitta that that that whatever practice I perform here may become a cause to arise bodhicitta within yep, to realize or generate a bodhicitta that is to attain enlightenment for the sake of motherly sentient beings, to free motherly sentient beings from the suffering. So we shall So we shall do a short meditation on this mind or bodhicitta. Yeah. So not only this meditation should done only in this class. One should can all one can always do the same meditation in each and every practices.
Beginning of each and every practices one perform. Either one is doing a meditation on Tārā, Vajrasattva or any kind of practices. So beginning of that, for example, like Tārā, so whatever one is for motivation is to one’s meditation should uphold or should be done in conjunction with the mind of altruistic intention, that wishing that that in order to free this motherly sentient beings from sentient beings from the suffering of cyclic existence, may I I just I’ll do this practice to become like Tārā. So we shall do a meditation here that that may I shall do this practice to become yeah, to become a Buddha or in yeah, Buddha in order to free all these free sentient beings from the suffering as such bodhicitta or altruistic intention, we shall do a short meditation.