Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 44-minute commentary, Geshe Pema Tsering opens with the Buddha’s teaching that a kind heart shapes rebirth itself — the mind determines whether one travels a happy or suffering path. He then works through four of the six perfections, arguing that each is perfected inwardly rather than through external action. The patience section is especially concrete: just as wearing tough leather shoes beats covering an entire thorny field with leather, uprooting anger defeats all enemies at once without confronting each individually. He maps what enthusiastic effort must accomplish — nine methods of calm abiding, successive concentration levels — before turning to wisdom realizing emptiness, which he identifies as the one quality without which neither liberation nor Buddhahood can be achieved. Suited to practitioners already working with the Lamrim framework.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 17 Guide 2002 06 06.mp3
UUID: 48307810-3cd7-4197-a801-f5443faee182
Teacher: Geshe Pema Tsering
Collection: Bodhisattva Way of Life (Geshe Pema Tsering)
Date: 2002-06-06
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 44.5 minutes
Words: ~2,629
So lord Buddha Śākyamūni in his sūtra has stated that if one has a kind heart, kind heart kind heartedness, then the path and the the ground and path also be very kind. If the mind or say, so yeah. It’s mind or intention or a mind is bad, then path and grounds are also bad. Therefore, everything depends on the mind. So what it means is if one has a kind heart you know, kind heartedness, isn’t it?
Yep. Then one will have the kind ground and path, which means the path grounds here are the the place where one takes rebirth. And the parts here are the the as per the part, there are two types of part, the the the happiness part and the suffering part. And if one performs if one be a very kind person and, you know, yep, and very kind hearted, then the the place where a person would take re rebirth will be very pleasant and a nice place as well as one will go through the the the happy path or the kind, nice path where one will receive the the the happiness. If one is not a kind hearted, then the parts where the place where one the one will be born in a in in a very bad rebirth or a very bad place as well as the migration, one will go through the suffering part. And by traveling into suffering parts, then then then one will go through the sufferings. So therefore, what it the briefly speaking, what it means is the happiness or suffering is entirely dependent on one’s mind. So here, the kind hearted refers towards the intention.
If person has a very good intention or a mind of of of, yep, helping others being very altruism as well as, developing the mind of altruistic intention or bodhicitta as well as having respect in the law of cause and effect or karma and refuge in Tibet and training in the three scopes, the small, middling and the great scope. And those are called the kind hearted person or mind or or a mind with a good intention. And the the the vice versa are like disrespect the the law of cause and effect or a karma as well as cultivating the due to this due to this not respecting in the law of karma, then who does not care about doing anything and involving in the the the the cultivation of of ten non-virtuous actions. So so therefore, we are all here wishing happiness and do not want suffering. So therefore, in order to have the happiness and and avoid sufferings, one one one should not be yeah.
Yeah. Should not cultivate any non-virtues and be kindheartedness and be kindhearted. And and according to the text here, which we will be going, they’re saying everything, all the virtuous comes from from the one’s mind, and it has explained very detail about how, you know, how to protect or or, yep, how to guide one’s mind, to protect one’s mind. So out of out of those, it is the the most ultimate or very effective one is to cultivate the mind of altruistic intention with bodhicitta. Yeah.
Should try to develop the mind of the altruistic intention. And it is very important for us to to to to familiarize ourself, yep, constantly to, yep, to cultivate the bodhicitta. And prior to that, in order to develop the bodhicitta, one and it depends. The root of the bodhicitta is is is the great compassion and should should cultivate the great compassion through first examining how oneself undergoes through those sufferings.
And by knowing this, then also see those motherly sentient beings are also going through, like oneself going through, going through the sufferings. And therefore, by knowing that both self and others, they’re lacking happiness and what yep. And and and lacking happiness and being tortured in this the sufferings, in cyclic existence. So therefore, in order to help both self and others, I shall here cultivate all the virtuous. Yeah.
Yeah. In order to in order to help sentient beings from the suffering and bring them to the state of ultimate happiness, I shall here engage in the practice to attain enlightenment. So we shall do a short meditation here on this altruistic intention or bodhicitta. So last week, we start we started a bit of the sec the second subdivision, is all the virtuous comes from the mind. And and out of this, we went through how the happiness or virtue comes from one’s mind as well as sufferings also come from one’s mind.
And as well as now, it’s saying that even the the six perfections are also perfected through one’s mind or yeah. And out of the first out of the six perfection, we went through the the perfection of generosity and saying that that the the perfection of generosity should be perfected through mentally or within one’s mind, it is not just saying that to perfect the perfection of the generosity, it doesn’t mean that one should give everything and make every single sentient being should remain in poverty. What it means is one should increase the mind of giving within oneself. And and because sentient beings are limitless and what there is no way one can make equal everyone. So this is how is the perfection of the generosity being perfect within one’s mind or through one’s mind.
So likewise, now here, as well as the now we’re starting from the second one, which is perfection of ethical discipline. So so likewise, the the perfection of ethical discipline, the second perfection. And and so that perfection is also perfected within one’s mind by protecting one’s mind, yeah, one’s mind and not committing any of the non virtuous. And, yeah, by leading a very ethical life or, yeah, ethical life, that it doesn’t mean that, for example, the the the ethical discipline are, like, not killing, not stealing, sexual misconduct, or causing harms, and so forth. And to so through within one’s mind, by by one’s mind, making sure that one will not let oneself engage in those non virtuous actions and and and and, yeah, leading a very ethical life through this, how one perfects the perfection of ethical discipline.
Otherwise yeah. Yeah. Yes. And so what this is how one perfects the perfection of ethical discipline. It is not like this way that to perfect the the second perfection, one should one one should yeah.
One should not act the act of killing, but it doesn’t mean like that one should always take a the like a animal or so forth where people kill, like fish and so forth. It doesn’t mean they want to take a take protect that life and then bring bring it to a place where it won’t be harmed. There is no way one can do so because of the numbers of the sentient being. So all what one should do is one should make sure or making yeah. Guiding one’s mind and not and, yeah, increasing increasing yeah.
Increasing one’s positive actions and not letting one’s mind not to commit any of those, say, ten non virtuous actions. So likewise, the perfection of patience, this perfection, is also perfected through sin similar way that that it is not the way one should one should one should be The place where one maintains practice of patience are limitless because of the numberless of sentient beings and there is no way that one can one can one can win through one can approach each and every individual, the enemies or peep the beings who bring harm towards you to defeat all those. So how once you perfect this, the the perfection of patience is through by applying the antidote towards the main enemy which is so called the anger. By applying the antidote towards the anger and and defeating it within oneself and by doing so then one indirectly one defeat entire enemies or beings who causes harm to you. This is how So it is not the external, it’s internal matter that one should maintain patience and defeat one’s own enemy so called anger.
And through this, how one perfects the perfection of patience. So yeah. So there is no way one can defeat all the harms or the beings who causes harm by facing individuals because it is numberless. If one destroy the root enemy which is anger then by defeating that one indirectly or automatically defeat the entire enemies. And the example here is given like for example the entire field is full of thorns.
And in order to avoid one’s feet from being pricked, isn’t it? Yeah? And one tries there is no way one can put the leather cover on entire field because it’s huge. So in order to protect oneself from that, the best the easiest way is to is to wear a leather very tough shoes, and then I don’t need to spend all this time to cover the entire land with leather. We just walk in and one have actually say one defeats the thorns.
So likewise, so likewise, so likewise because sentient beings are numberless one can’t face each and every individual to defeat one’s harm. So in order to defeat those, one should protect one’s mind, destroy one’s own anger and whenever the yeah. The harms from others come should instead yeah. Should try to be very compassionate, loving, and yeah. Be compassionate to them and for the for the for the for the the best.
If one can’t do that at least try not to get angry. And and through this is how through through such way or training one perfect the second and third perfections. So so likewise, now we’re on to the fourth perfection, which is perfection of enthusiastic effort. And that is also be perfected through one’s mind. So the the the definition the definition of the the yep.
Enthusiastic here, the definition of enthusiasm or yeah. Enthusiasm here is the mind which is very happy. Yep. To engage in the action. Best.
Yeah, and perfection of enthusiastic effort or effort depends on one’s mind as well. The definition of the effort here is the happy mind or mind which is very happy to be work or study for example. And now here it says is, yeah, in order to attain the actual meditative absorption of the first concentration level, they are first, second, third, fourth concentration levels. So in order to attain that one needs to have the huge positive actions or yeah, huge virtues or a positive action and to make it a bit clearer then what happens in order to attain the actual meditative absorption of the first concentration level, first one has abandon the so called the close attainment which means the close attainment — on that stage one is very close to attaining the meditative the actual meditative absorption of the first concentration level. Right?
So in order to abandon that what’s the so called the close abandonment or close defeat or abandonment, one has to have single-pointed meditative stabilization, or calm abiding. And for the calm abiding, to receive the calm abiding, one needs to train in all this — the nine mental abidings, the nine methods. Yeah, the methods of achieving the calm abiding. So what it shows is it has a lot of work to do, the ten.
So if one has the happy mind or very into that enthusiasm, then one is very happy to involve, work hard to cultivate all this virtuous actions. And by doing so, then one will have yeah. One will receive all this yeah. Have good rebirths like Indra’s and so forth. It goes the yeah. It goes actually step by step.
The actual meditative the actual first concentration level and then goes from that higher it goes the actual meditative absorptions of the concentration in the first concentration level. So without having those, then one will not have those rebirths. Without having the actual first concentration level reaching there, not have all this the first meditative absorption of the first concentration level as well as born as an Indras and so forth. So because in order to take birth or being born in those places, one has to have a huge, huge, huge virtuous and to do so, yeah so to getting to take all those rebirths one has lots of work to do. So without having an enthusiastic effort will not be able to attain all those.
So therefore, yeah, just to reach the first just to reach the first concentration level, one needs to have yeah. Are lots of work to do. So in order to accomplish all those works one needs to have a enthusiastic effort. And here the effort actually the definition of the effort here is the mind which is happy towards the positive actions or virtuous. So briefly speaking, then one has to attain and cultivate all these so called the near or close attainment and the meditative stabilization, stabilization, calm abiding and to attain the calm abiding one need to train in cultivate in the method of nine placing yes, nine point methods of cultivating.
Just to attain the first concentration level, yeah, yeah, yeah. That’s right. To just attain first concentration level one had all whole lot of all this work to do and for us here we are wishing for the liberation or arhathood as well as enlightenment and it’s even more than this so therefore it is very important to protect one’s mind and if one does not protect one’s mind then no matter how hard one works by reciting mantras, doing prostrations as well as fasting retreat for long long time and working so hard but if those practices are done without protecting one’s mind then there is a benefit but one will not receive the equivalent virtue set forth or which are stated in sutras by Lord Buddha Śākyamūni. So now towards the, yeah, the perfection of wisdom. And to yeah.
So the perfection of wisdom is also through perfected through one’s mind. And here the perfection of wisdom here is wisdom realizing emptiness. So the the the Bodhisattva, these two are the Bodhisattvas so it’s now, yeah, in order to perfect the perfection of wisdom one needs to see the ultimate, to realize the ultimate truth which is wisdom realizing emptiness. And the bodhisattva’s main practices are practicing or cultivating bodhicitta and the wisdom realizing emptiness. So therefore, and also to attain the nirvana, just mere free from cyclic existence or the enlightenment and the enlightenment or Buddhahood, to attain Buddhahood one needs to develop the wisdom realizing emptiness.
Without developing wisdom realizing emptiness the arhathood or the liberation and the enlightenment can’t be achieved. So therefore likewise like bodhisattvas cultivate the bodhicitta and wisdom realizing emptiness, one should also cultivate the wisdom realizing emptiness and the bodhicitta, which are so called the wisdom and the methods. Yep. One can reach the arhathood or the free from cyclic existence without bodhicitta or altruistic intention, but one can’t attain, one can’t be free, one can’t be free from cyclic existence without realizing emptiness or having without wisdom realizing emptiness and if one yeah yes, I said that didn’t I? Like one can attain without bodhicitta but cannot without wisdom realizing emptiness to free from cyclic existence and and without without both of them or without wisdom realizing emptiness and the