Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. A flash of lightning in the dark — Śāntideva’s image for how rarely virtuous thought arises in ordinary minds — anchors this 97.5-minute session with Geshe Pema Tsering. He opens with Nāgārjuna’s observation that liberation requires first growing weary of saṃsāra, then unpacks the mechanics: saṃsāra defined as anything arising from karma and afflicted states of mind, and ignorance of emptiness as its root. An analogy comparing learning the alphabet to grasping emptiness makes the abstract concrete. Working through verses 5–7 of Śāntideva’s Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life, he explains why ordinary practitioners’ capacity for virtue is far more fragile than their pull toward negative action, and why bodhicitta alone can outshine deeply entrenched karma. Q&A covers Buddha nature, every positive action as Buddha-activity, and why “vajra” and “enlightenment” are imprecise translations.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 2005 03 15 Bodhisattvas Way of Life.mp3
UUID: 57ef9c04-db54-4184-aac8-f9af05db7fb3
Teacher: Geshe Pema Tsering
Collection: Bodhisattva Way of Life 2005 Mar -2007 (Geshe Pema Tsering)
Date: 2005-03-15
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 97.5 minutes
Words: ~7,914
Mhmm. So, Nāgārjuna’s letter to a friend, he’s giving advice to the king, and he says that without growing weary of saṃsāra you do not find liberation. Without growing weary of saṃsāra you don’t find liberation from saṃsāra and continue to wander through the six realms of existence. Samsāra contains the experience of frustration, of illness, of sickness, Illness and old age and death and even if you get everything you desire you’re still going to experience suffering. You’re still going to, you’ll come up with new desires.
You’ll still experience suffering from coming up with new desires. So what this is explaining is that if we want to get out of saṃsāra we first have to recognize what’s wrong with saṃsāra and that will develop the wish to get out of saṃsāra. Without developing this wish to be free from saṃsāra there’s no way that we’re going to work towards nirvana, towards liberation. And if we don’t work develop the wish to work towards liberation then there’s no way we’ll attain liberation. So what we need to ascertain in the beginning is the fault of saṃsāra, the, the negative the negative, reality of saṃsāra.
Okay, so in order for us to understand the faults of saṃsāra, in order for us to, want to get out of saṃsāra, we have to understand what saṃsāra is. Now Samsāra isn’t something, that’s necessarily easy to understand and Geshe-la said he doesn’t know if all of you actually know what it is. So to try and give you some, insight into what it is and then the main definition of Samsāra is that it is that which comes into being based on karma and kleshas or karma and afflicted states of mind. So that not just necessarily people’s mental continuums although the negative states in their being’s mental continuum are part of saṃsāra but it also means objects and the things that we may have attachment to because they’ve come into being based on causes and conditions and those causes and conditions were created by beings then they are also contained within saṃsāra. So anything that comes together as a result of causes and conditions, anything that comes together as a result of karma and delusion is saṃsāra.
So so this we we need to know what saṃsāra is. So saṃsāra is the anything that we experience in terms of the negative state of mind that we may experience. Can you turn it up? Yeah. That’s better.
Okay. It was me. Okay. I don’t know where I have my head, but it wasn’t in the microphone. Yeah.
It’s near the pick. Okay. So this means that if we’re saying that all things that have come into being, based on karma and kleshas or common negative states of mind. Is saṃsāra. This means that the possessions that we have are parts of saṃsāra.
It means that the objects that relate to our senses are part of saṃsāra. But the main thing that we focus on as being saṃsāra is actually the five aggregates. The five aggregates we have form, our form, our feelings, our disc our discernment, our compounded factors, and our consciousness are are what we experience as saṃsāra. They’ve come into being based on our the karma that we’ve created and the negative states that which led us to create that karma. So therefore, our personal experience of saṃsāra is our personal experience of self and the five aggregates that we consider to be ourself.
So, if we wanna know how, as as Samsāra is cyclic, if we want to know how the five aggregates act as a cause, for our experience of Samsāra, then we need to look at our attachment, to the five aggregates. So we have a very intense, attachment to the five aggregates and the way that this works is that we are constantly striving for happiness or peace of body and mind, have a good feeling of body and mind and this good striving for good feeling of body and mind is being attached to either the mental or physical aggregates. Based on these, this attachment in this way, we then create the causes for, becoming or, this grasping leads to an experience of becoming. And therefore, we perpetuate, the five aggregates which act as this cause, as a base for us to experience suffering. So it’s through our attachments to the five aggregates, that we, perpetuate the cycle of saṃsāra.
Now, how this attachment comes about that leads to this cycle of saṃsāra is through ignorance. The basis for this attachment is ignorance, but not just any old ignorance. It’s a cloudiness or a fog that stops us from perceiving the true nature of reality. So without perceiving the nature the emptiness the Śūnyatā, or the emptiness of phenomenon in ourselves we, misperceive it the this experience and take these things to be inherently existent independent entities. And through grasping at these things, in this way, we then, perpetuate, the cycle of saṃsāra, by being attached or repulsed by by these objects.
So without knowing that things don’t exist the way that they appear to us, we are constantly stuck in saṃsāra. We we we’ve misperceived it. We’re attached to the things we perceive in saṃsāra that aren’t really there, and this causes us to perpetuate the saṃsāra cycle. Mhmm. So because we have this ignorance as to the the true nature of existence to as to emptiness, then we have attachment.
We don’t perceive things as being, merely labeled we perceive them as being inherently existent and because we perceive them as being solidly or independently existent in this way we grasp at these things we want to hold on to them we want to, possess them or we want to, we have aversion to them. Don’t want anything to do with them. So based on this, this attachment to happiness or this attachment to, put to the things that we consider to be good in saṃsāra, the happiness of saṃsāra, then we perform actions or we create karma. And this creation of karma or this performance of action is what leads us to perpetuate, cyclic existence. So this karma has to have a result.
This action has to have a result and the result of the action is the experience of the, of taking again, a rebirth, appropriating the five aggregates taking on the five aggregates. So when we’re striving for happiness, we’re striving for happiness in a ignorant way. Now, we’re not striving for true happiness. We’re striving for, samsaric happiness because we don’t really know what true happiness is. So, we have this basic idea that we want to be happy, but not knowing what true happiness is we we keep working towards Samsaric happiness and this actually this working towards Samsaric happiness is a way to create karma that results in suffering by perpetuating saṃsāra.
So, we’re working towards happiness. We’re attached to this saṃsāra happiness by creating that karma, to try and attain this saṃsāra happiness. We keep perpetuating saṃsāra and, if we’ve done so in a positive way, we end up in a high realm, one of the, nicer realm nicer areas of saṃsāra. And if we perpetuate it in a negative way, we end up in the lower realms. So, within Samsāra, there’s a fairly there isn’t a fairly there’s a very strict law of cause and effect.
If you do something positive, you experience happiness. If you do something negative, you experience a negative result or suffering as a result of that negative action. This is a very strict rule that functions within saṃsāra. But the thing within saṃsāra is that because we’re habituated towards grasping, because we’re habituated towards, wanting things and wanting to hold onto these things, it means that the positive actions you perform in saṃsāra are far outweighed by the negative actions that are motivated by this attachment, this grasping. So this means that most beings in saṃsāra experience more suffering than they do happiness.
The beings that are reborn in intense suffering existences far outnumber those who are born in more pleasant existences or more pleasant rebirths. The natural tendency of saṃsāra is to create intense suffering and most of the time this actually manifests as direct suffering as opposed to the suffering of change. But whether we have a positive rebirth or whether we have a negative rebirth, whether we’re experiencing happiness or whether we’re experiencing manifest suffering, If we’re still in saṃsāra then it is by its nature suffering, it’s still saṃsāra. So we may sometimes experience happiness, may sometimes experience suffering. By karma, if we’re still motivated by ignorance and therefore have desire and therefore perform actions based on that desire, act based on that desire, we’re still creating the experience of saṃsāra and we’ll continue to experience the result of that creation.
So if we start noticing the way that we work, and then we’ll see that, getting out of saṃsāra isn’t something that we can do easily. It’s something that we need to put in a lot of effort to achieve. Because our motivations, we watch the way our minds work our motivation is that we are constantly wanting the good bits of saṃsāra, the pleasant aspects of saṃsāra. We’re very attached to the pleasant aspects of saṃsāra and trying to find happiness within saṃsāra. This is the way we behave, we keep perpetuating saṃsāra.
If we watch our habits, we watch the way our minds work, then we’ll notice that trying to get out of saṃsāra is a big undertaking. So what we need to do in order to start this undertaking is we need to develop a frustration or a had enough of ness. Forget how to say it. Need to be completely over, get over it and get over saṃsāra. Once we’ve developed this, this is when we do this by looking at the faults of saṃsāra, looking at what’s wrong with it, looking at how we experience suffering constantly in saṃsāra.
But if we don’t take this on, we don’t start looking at the faults of saṃsāra and we don’t develop this, revulsion for Samsāra, this, complete frustration with Samsāra and seek our way out, then we aren’t going to get out of saṃsāra. This is why this verse at the end of this verse or, it said the Nāgārjuna says, you’ll keep wandering in saṃsāra if you don’t develop this revulsion, this absolute frustration with saṃsāra, you will keep wandering in saṃsāra. So in order to develop a mind seeking to get out of saṃsāra, we need to look at the faults of saṃsāra so we can become repulsed or revolted or completely over saṃsāra. In order for us to want to get out of Samsāra, we need to recognise these faults in Samsāra. In order for us to recognise these faults in Samsāra, it’s not enough to hear this — we need to investigate for ourselves.
We need to start looking at the way that things work and see if by applying reasoning for ourselves that we agree with this and start looking at the reasons why Samsāra is faulty, the reasons why we want to get out of saṃsāra and the reasoning as to how it comes into existence. So we need to look at its faults and then we need to work backwards from there. Need to look at where those faults come from. What is it that creates saṃsāra? So then we need to look at negative states of mind or kleshas and karma or actions.
Actions of body, speech and mind that we do that are informed by or motivated by those negative states of mind. So, then we need to look at what the basis of those is. And the basis of those is this ignorance. Ignorance is to the true Ignorance is to the nature of reality. Ignorance is to the way things actually are.
So the way that we perceive things isn’t the way that they are. The way that they are isn’t as inherent solid entities. And by being mistaken in this way, we’re working from this mistaken premise then we are attached to things we have aversion to things and we perpetuate saṃsāra. So we need to get rid of this ignorance we need to get rid of the root cause of saṃsāra the ignorance that perceives things as being inherently solidly existent. And, this gets rid of the by getting rid of the cause of saṃsāra we get rid of saṃsāra.
Now, developing, wisdom that is the antidote to this ignorance is, something that we need to work at. We need to work at developing. We need to investigate a lot. But if when we do develop it, the fog of our ignorance is cleared away. Now, this may sound very abstract but it’s a process that we actually go through over and over and over again.
We go through the process of not knowing something, having a fog of our understanding, learning it and then becoming thoroughly familiar with it. And so the one of the best examples of this is when we’re learning the alphabet. And if we look at if you don’t know the alphabet like for example, the first letter of the Tibetan alphabet that being ka if you didn’t know that and you looked at this symbol there just be absolute ignorance or confusion as to what that element is and it’s the same with ABC and D. Before we learn what A, B, C and D is, when we perceive it, don’t have any understanding or comprehension of what those symbols mean. Once we’ve learned them, then we recognize them instantly for what they are.
So it’s the same process with developing an understanding of Śūnyatā, or emptiness, or the nature of reality. Once we’ve understood it then we recognize it instantly for what it is. Until we try and understand it or until we’ve developed that understanding we’re going to keep misperceiving it and by keeping on misperceiving it, we’ll keep perpetuating saṃsāra. So, the thing that we need to focus on, the thing that we don’t know, the thing that we’re ignorant about that perpetuates saṃsāra, the ignorance that perpetuates saṃsāra, is our ignorance of reality. Our ignorance of the way things are, and not perceiving the way things are, we take them to be inherently existent.
The way things are is empty of inherent existence. The way things are is, this word sometimes translated as thusness or thatness. Are in a certain way but not the way that we perceive them to be. So if we don’t recognise the emptiness of inherent existence, this lack of solidity and true reality in phenomenon, then we’re going to our ignorance that is the basis of saṃsāra is perpetuated. So we we take things to have some kind of, essence or, true reality from the from in the in the objects themselves.
And, this isn’t the case. The only reason that things exist at all is because we label them as something. Without our labeling perception there is no objects there. We bring things into reality by giving them names or reacting to them in a as if they are one entity. Without us reacting to them as if they are one entity they aren’t.
And so there is nothing, nothing at all from the side of those objects that makes them inherently existent that makes them come into reality that perpetuates their existence. So once we figured that out once we figured out that things don’t inherently exist that they don’t have an independent nature nature that enables them to perpetuate themselves. Once we figure that out and we stop grasping at them and we stop grasping at even ourselves, then the ignorance of the ignorance that perpetuates saṃsāra is cleared away, is obliterated. So the way that it works then is that we start with this ignorance, we start with this misperception of reality and based on that misperception of reality we develop the idea of self and other and then the self wants other. We hold on to our being, our aggregates, we hold on to our objects we have a strong attachment to our bodies our ways of thinking and our possessions and then based on that possession that possessive mind that grasping we perform actions and we perform a karmic we create karma and that karma results in saṃsāra, results in the suffering states of saṃsāra with the tainted experiences of saṃsāra whether that be happiness, saṃsāra happiness or saṃsāra suffering.
If we’re able to look at this situation and see through it, if we’re able to look at what we’re doing, way that we’re perpetuating this state and see through it, see it for what it is, see the objects that we’re attached to see ourselves, for what we are as opposed to the way we think we are, then we’re going to develop, intense revulsion, for for Samsāra because we’re going to see that it is completely pointless. We’re going to see that since the beginningless time up until now, ourselves and other beings have been making ourselves suffer and we’ve experienced many many different types of suffering in many different existences in many different ways for absolutely no reason, for absolutely, for no purpose, just because we’ve been mistaken, just because we haven’t perceived things for the way they are. And then we’ll really, develop, be completely completely have had it with Samsāra, because all of this suffering has come about for absolutely no reason. And so then we are really going to want to strive towards, nirvana to eliminate negative states because we’ll have realized the pointlessness, the complete pointlessness of saṃsāra. So, this perception of emptiness and getting rid of the ignorance that keeps us in saṃsāra is the best way to develop a renunciation from saṃsāra because we’ll see it’s utter pointlessness.
But this recognition of the actual state of things as opposed to the way we perceive them isn’t actually liberation. It’s a tool that we can use to get to liberation, to get rid of negative states of thinking. Based on this understanding, we’re not going to be creating more negative states and we’re going to be able to obliterate that habits that we have developed in negative states. Developing a perception of emptiness is the tool that we need to use to reach liberation. But then we have to go ahead and use the tool.
There’s no point having a tool and then not using it. So we need to put this tool into action in order to get rid of our negative states in order to attain liberation when we have gotten rid of those negative states. Okay. So, at the beginning, it’s very important for us to try and develop a very, good understanding of the faults of Samsāra, and to go over this and to meditate on this again and again and again. It’s not something that we, should try and skip over.
It’s the it’s the basis of our understanding and something that we need to work on. What can happen though because it’s difficult for us to start seeing the faults of Samsāra, We can get disillusioned and think, well I can’t achieve realization, can’t achieve Buddhahood, I can’t achieve liberation. That’s what other people do. You know, there’s no way that I’m gonna be able to get there. This is really hard.
But, this isn’t the way that the path progresses. You don’t start with a clear view of what it is that you’re going to achieve. You start by developing a subtler and subtler understanding of all the different parts of the path. So as you develop a subtler and subtler understanding, your clinging to these things become subtler and subtler and more easy, to get rid of. So as this understanding becomes subtler and subtler, then we get closer and closer to having developed these, developed these realizations.
And we do have the ability to develop these realizations because all of the beings that came before us and did progress in this way were exactly the same as us when they started off. It’s just that, it may seem like it’s not possible for us at the moment because we’re so we’re so deluded. But the thing is we need to to work at it and make, and make our understandings more refined and more refined and so on. Because we have the capacity to know and this is something that we should be very, we should we should recognize as well. Being born into a lifetime where we have the capacity to understand, to perceive, the path, to be able to put, compassion compassion and so on into practice means we’re doing alright.
It means that we’ve gotten somewhere. The chances of us having all the conditions come together to experience the life that we have now is very rare. We’re already doing pretty good. So while we have this opportunity, while we have this, this, platform from which to work, we really need to make the most of it. We nearly really need to put it into to use it to its best effect.
And the best effect that we can use it for is to work towards enlightenment in order to be a benefit to all sentient beings. In order to lead all sentient beings to a state beyond sorrow we first of all need to become Buddhas ourselves. So this is the best way, that we can use this lifetime that we have at the moment. Now, if we waste this lifetime, if we get caught up in the things of this life and forget about Dharma practice, we could actually lose our human rebirth and reborn in other states where it’s difficult to again, where it would be difficult to again, attain a human rebirth. So we really need to make the most of this opportunity.
So the way that we can remind ourselves to make the most of this opportunity is by whenever we get we’re getting caught up in the things of Samsāra whenever we find ourselves being attached to the things of Samsāra we can remember the faults of saṃsāra and it only actually ever leads to suffering. And then if we remember that and then we focus on the beneficial things that come about through liberation and through Buddhahood then both of these things will enable us to take the most or make the most of the opportunity that we have now. Okay. So So, the best way that we can use this opportunity. We have this opportunity now.
We’ve created the causes to to be doing alright, and, we wanna not lose this opportunity, wanna make the most of what we’ve got. Then we need to be working towards attaining Buddhahood. And the reason we wanna attain Buddhahood is because we wanna lead all other beings, all other beings with a mind to that state. So most of these beings with a mind or most of these sentient beings are in Samsāra. Most of them because arhats and bodhisattvas on the three higher levels are sentient beings but they’re not in saṃsāra.
But the majority of sentient beings are in saṃsāra. And even arhats and those beings who are on the three highest levels of the path of meditation need to be led to Buddhahood. So for all of those beings we need to do whatever it is we’re doing for all of these beings to lead to a state beyond sorrow. So if we can, think about this and get an idea of that and meditate on it for a couple of minutes. So I forgot something as well.
Guess I was saying before how, you develop a perception of emptiness and this leads you to not wanna have anything to do with saṃsāra and then work towards nirvana. So then once you’ve developed this perception you have to, this is the bit I forgot that you’re supposed to combine it with tranquility practices, śamatha practices and perceiving emptiness based on this perception of emptiness in meditative concentration is the best tool that you can use to get rid of negative states that perpetuate saṃsāra. Okay. So, we’re still going through the first section of the first chapter of the Bodhicaryāvatāra. So the first section is the individual the section we’re up to is individual explanation of, of each topic.
Now, this again has two sections. The first one one is reflecting on the benefits of bodhicitta. And the second one is the way to put the practice, of bodhicitta into the way to put the training of bodhicitta into practice based on the two minds. Now these two minds that it is referring to is the perception of ultimate bodhicitta and relative bodhicitta. Right, so this first section which is reflecting on the benefits of cultivating bodhicitta, again has two sections explaining the chapters material which refers to chapter one, and the second section is explaining the chapters name.
Within the section on explaining the chapters material, again there’s two sections. There’s the one that says instructions on the reasoning behind abandoning negativities and practicing virtue And the second is, reflecting extensively upon the benefits of bodhicitta. So, with regards to the section, is the instructions on the reasoning behind abandoning negativities and practicing virtue. This is described in verse number five of the, root text and the first line of verse number six. So that’s where it says, and when a flash of lightning rends the night and in its glare shows all the dark black clouds it had hid.
Likewise, rarely through the Buddha’s power, virtuous virtuous thoughts rise brief and transient in the world. Thus behold the utter frailty of goodness. And so it’s when it says it as when a flash of lightning rends the night and it’s in its glare shows all the dark black clouds that it had hid. It’s left out the that it, but it sounds weird if I read it out without it. Anyway, what this is referring to is that if we took into consideration all of the lifetimes that we have led, all of the different existences, that we have experienced then the times that we’ve actually been a human who has the capacity to perform virtuous actions to refrain from negative actions and to make a conscious choice in performing these actions is very rare.
It’s said to be as rare as when lightning flashes. So when lightning flashes you can see everything around you and this enables you to see forms of the things that you may not have been able to see in the darkness. As a human we have the in the same way as a human we have the capacity to look at negative actions the results of negative actions and so on and all the things that we may have done or may have experienced in other realms which were clouded in by this ignorance. And it says likewise rarely through the Buddha’s power so that is by the teachings of the Buddha by explanations of the of the enlightened ones, that we’re we’re able to do virtuous actions. But this is like a brief and transient thing.
It’s not something that we can, maintain forever and it’s not something that is very, common. It’s not something that if it does last, lasts for a long time. And so then it says thus behold the utter frailty of goodness. So this shows you because of the nature of saṃsāra how actually difficult it is to do good things. And so that while we have the opportunity to do good things, then we really need to take it.
So, as ordinary beings, as beings without an uncontrived experience of bodhicitta and without a direct perception of emptiness then our capacity to perform virtue is very fragile. Our capacity to do a virtuous action and not be overcome by our negative state of mind is very small. The strength of bodhicitta, without the strength of their perception of emptiness, we have to struggle to bring this about. So while our ability as beings without these stable positive states of mind aren’t able to perform virtuous actions with any real strength our habitual tendencies towards performing negative actions are strong and this means that it is in order for us to develop antidotes to negative states of mind in order for us to develop antidotes to neurotic thought patterns or to destructive thought patterns then we need to put in a lot of effort. This is the reason why we need to focus very intensely on destroying negativities and accomplishing virtue.
The times when we are able to perform virtuous action when we look at the whole vast scope of saṃsāra are very rare. And this is why they’re likened to a flash of lightning in the dark. So the the conditions for the conditions to come together for us to be able to perform virtuous actions, to have virtuous thoughts, to put those thoughts into practice and to benefit others are very rare and they don’t usually last long. So this is the kind of experience that we’re actually having now. We are in a we’re in one of these times.
We are experiencing a flash of lightning in the dark. In the fact that we are we have the capacity and we do have virtuous thoughts. And so while we have these moments, while we have this experience and we really need to to make the most of it. So then the Buddha’s path, that the Buddha has explained that leads out of, saṃsāra and leads out of the worldly existence to nirvana and gives us the ability to perform virtuous actions is a very rare thought and it’s something that we need to cherish. Because it doesn’t usually last very long, we need to put in a lot of effort, to make the most of it.
So because of this, because it is so rare for these circumstances to come about, that means that and because they don’t last forever when they do come about, this shows us the fragility of, of our positive thoughts and the fragility of our positive actions. As ordinary beings without these different states we don’t have the capacity to perpetuate virtue in the same way as those with uncontrived bodhicitta or perception of emptiness. But at the moment we have the conditions have come together for us to work towards that state. Do have the capacity to perform virtue. We do have even if they are contrived, do have instances where we want to achieve nirvana, we want to attain Buddhahood, we want to have compassion for all sentient beings, we want to develop bodhicitta.
Because we have that capacity at the moment and if we don’t do something about it, it won’t last very long, then we really need to put in every effort to use this fragile this positive but fragile situation that we have at the moment and transform it into something that isn’t as fragile. So in the same way that lightning lights up the clouds and we can see the forms of the clouds, the fogginess that’s in our heads and the negative states that we perpetuate because of this fogginess or because of this ignorance, can lead to rebirth in the lower realms and the, unbearable suffering suffering, that beings experience in the lower realms. We have, the capacity capacity to lead ourselves into that state. But, being exposed to positive situations at the moment enables us to look at that, at what those births being born in those states are like. Look at what, the terrible and unbearable suffering that the beings in those states experience and then, having developed fear of those states, do all that we can or knowing about the unbearable states, do we need to do all we can and not to be reborn in those states?
So so recognizing this state, recognizing that this ignorance could cause us to be reborn in the lower realms, the suffering of the lower realms, we need to do all that we can and put in a lot of effort, to to perform positive actions and abandon negative actions. So, because in the state that we’re in now at this time, our capacity to perform virtuous, positive actions is much much more fragile than our capacity to perform negative actions. We need to be aware of this and be constantly vigilant so that we’re not creating the causes to be reborn in lower realms. So, at the state that we’re in now, our ability to do positive actions, to perform virtue, is much less is much more fragile than our capacity to perform negative actions to act from neurosis which is or afflicted mental states which is very strong capacity to act from kleshas or negative mental states is very strong. So we need to be aware of this fragility at the moment.
We need to be aware of what our tendencies are and how strong those tendencies are and also how difficult it is for us to actually perform a virtuous action. Okay. So because that’s the state we’re in, the next thing that we really need to look at and what we really need to focus on is the section that’s called, extensively reflecting upon the benefits of bodhicitta. So this has four sections explaining the benefits of bodhicitta, identifying the nature of bodhicitta, the reasons there are such benefits, to bodhicitta, and praising the people who cultivate bodhicitta. Okay, so, within the first section, which is explaining the benefits of bodhicitta, there is Anyway, there’s, three different sections to that.
This explaining the benefits of bodhicitta. The first one is, the potential for bodhicitta to destroy all negativities and accomplish all virtues. The second is the special name and purpose of bodhicitta. And the third is explaining explains the benefits of bodhicitta by means of an analogy. And, from this first section, is the potential bodhicitta has to destroy negativities and accomplish all virtues, there’s again three sections.
Destroying great negativities, the potential to accomplish supreme bliss, and the potential to accomplish whatever one wishes. Okay, so, given that this is the state of our being, then the next verse that our potential for negativity, our tendency towards negative action is much greater than our tendency towards positive action. This is why bodhicitta, the mind of enlightenment, is so important. And in the next three lines of verse six it says, except for bodhicitta, there is nothing able to withstand the great and overwhelming strength of evil. So, in general, to give us a really good reason why we should meditate on bodhicitta, the two bodhicittas and try and develop ultimate and relative bodhicitta.
Then, for example, the the the example is that within our continuum, we could have the throwing karma or the, accomplishing karma to be reborn in hell. And only meditations and teachings on relative and ultimate bodhicitta can purify that. And, the word is literally to outshine it. So by outshining these negative tendencies that we may have in our continuum, then we’re not going to end up in those places. Mhmm.
Okay. One of benefits of bodhicitta apart from this is that the meditation of or the development of ultimate bodhicitta, now ultimate bodhicitta is another way of saying the perception of emptiness, the direct perception of emptiness, has Has the ability to get rid of even the seeds of the obscuration. So the obscuration is to liberation and the obscuration is to omniscience. And by getting rid of even the seeds or the tendencies, the latencies of these obscurations we are able to become Buddhas. But this isn’t the main part of what is to be explained in this text because the main focus for the Bodhicaryāvatāra isn’t in fact the development of ultimate bodhicitta it’s the development of relative bodhicitta and the reason that this is explained in detail is because not only does the development of relative bodhicitta give us the capacity to get rid of the obscurations which would lead us to be reborn in these states but it also enables us to sever the continuum of the development of these states.
So if we are focused on achieving enlightenment to benefit all sentient beings which is the relative mind of bodhicitta, the relative enlightened mind, and then that stops us from creating the causes again to be reborn in these negative states. Okay. So, the next section, which is called the potential to accomplish supreme bliss, is covered in verse seven, of the, root text where it says, the mighty Buddhas pondering for many ages have seen that this and only this will save the boundless multitudes and bring them easily to supreme joy. So the Buddhas, who have meditated for many eons and, have, contemplated these things for many eons have, have come to the conclusion of developing the understanding that if in order for a sentient being to be liberated from saṃsāra, to experience great bliss or supreme joy, then they need to develop a bodhicitta and, work from that state up until attaining Buddhahood. So another way of saying supreme joy is to say Buddhahood.
So the only thing that lead that leads all sentient beings to Buddhahood is bodhicitta. So the reason for this is it’s the only thing motivated by leading all sentient beings to Buddhahood. Without having that motivation to wish all sentient beings to attain Buddhahood, you can’t attain Buddhahood and as a Buddha work to lead all sentient beings to that state. So in order for something to have the app have an outcome, it needs to be motivated, by that outcome. Okay.
So if anyone has any questions, we can stop there if anyone has any questions. Yes. Sorry. I was thinking, who’s that? Okay.
Every positive action is the Buddha’s activities. Alright? If there were no Buddhas, there would be no positive activities. Every positive action is a result of the activities of the Buddha. Or, you know, every positive action is the activities of the Buddha.
Buddha’s. Okay. So the reason that all of these things are the activities of the Buddha is for a couple of reasons. The first of which is this, the Buddhas by their nature are perpetually working for the happiness of all sentient beings. So this means that they are constantly, doing things in order for beings to be able to develop positive thoughts.
Alright. And to inspire positive thoughts to lead to positive thoughts and so on. The other aspect to this this is that all beings have Buddha nature and any positive any positive action is a manifestation of that Buddha nature. Yeah. So, yeah, the the so the combination of these two things, the positive potential of beings, Buddha nature and the, Buddha’s working for the benefit of all sentient beings at all times in order to bring happiness to them means that every positive action is the activity of the Buddha.
Now just because a Buddha didn’t tell someone in one lifetime you do this, something good will happen. Anytime that a positive thought comes about, that is the result of a Buddha’s instruction or guidance or, inspiration in a previous state. So, first, so we often see people doing positive things that may have no kind of cognition or, connection to, not only just, Buddhas but, religion or, things in general. So from our perspective, we may think, how can they how can their positive action be anything to do with a Buddha, alright, or Buddha’s activities? First of all, anytime we see anyone and relate to them, we should have a sense of doubt as to whether they are a sentient being or a Buddha or not to start off with.
So we have to have this idea, are they a Buddha or not? I’m not quite sure. Yeah. To start off with. If they’re not a Buddha and they’re doing something positive, we still have to say that that positive action is the Buddha’s activity, because, that, positive action was either inspired by, the we can either look at by the Buddhas or as a result of the Buddha nature of the person who’s performing it.
Geshe-la said, no. No. No. No. No.
Is it oh, now it’s around the wrong way. The pigs are on the anyway, he said, no. No. No. No.
No. Just because some of these activities of the Buddha doesn’t mean that we don’t do it. Yeah. Yeah? So just because it’s, you know, inspired by the Buddha doesn’t mean that we don’t do it ourselves.
Whether we do something positive or not, definitely comes down to us. Yeah. The lightning is the virtuous action. Isn’t it? Okay, so it’s the time when we have the capacity to practice virtue.
At the moment, for example, as a human, we have the understanding to perceive what is virtuous and what is not virtuous, what is helpful and what is not helpful. So this time where we actually have that capacity is likened to a flash of lightning in the dark. It’s not something that happens very often and it’s not something that lasts very long. Yes? Is this, like, flash of lightning and it’s enlightening.
Oh, let’s see. Hang on. Wait a minute. You’re making puns with English that don’t translate. Sorry?
Like you are ruthless in your in your wonderful Yes. Yes. That’s a pun too. Ruth being ruthless. Yes.
First of all, let’s deal with the vajra first. I honestly think that this is like a bit of a circle of translation, right? Because vajra means immutability. It’s called it represents stability, unchangeability and solidity something that can’t be damaged. Alright?
So this is it’s sometimes translated as thunderbolt. Alright? But it’s a very loose translation. Okay? And the reason that it’s usually translated is that is because of its connection with the with tantric practices or the mantra practices which are associated with that.
They’re called the lightning vehicle sometimes. It’s a very loose translation. The main thing about vajra is its immutability, not its enlightening capacity. Okay? So this that’s like a but it comes together nicely in English.
Alright? And then I said so and she was asking if that had anything to do with this and the idea of enlightenment. Right? Now the word for enlightenment in Tibetan literally, I said Geshe-la when we translate this word Jangchup into English into enlightenment in English, it means to be enlightened, to see things, to perceive things. Well, that’s not a very good translation.
When you translate it, you should say, word that means to have gotten rid of all negativities and perfected all positivity or accumulated all positive qualities, which is a very long, hence enlightenment. I tried to explain to him that the original word Buddha, alright, means to wake up. And so then that’s where we got the word enlightenment from. And he said the word enlightenment isn’t the same as the word Buddha, and the word enlightenment means to get rid of all negative states and to develop all positive qualities. So it’s not quite working in terms of the translation of it.
Okay. So, the analogy is, right, that or is that, in general, in saṃsāra, we’re in complete darkness. We don’t have a clue. Alright? At the moment, having a human rebirth, we have a little insight.
We have a little bit of light on the situation, and we can see what’s going on. Alright? But in the same way that lightning doesn’t last very long, a human rebirth doesn’t last very long. Alright? So while we can see, we need to do something about it.
Yes? It’s not or, it’s both. Okay. Geshe-la said there were hundreds and thousands and millions of Buddhas before Buddha Śākyamūni came to Earth. So there’s other worlds, there’s other eons in this world, there’s many other Buddhas.
It said that there’s Buddhas that are Buddhas, and then Buddhas that are what are called supreme emanation bodies. Alright? That is Buddhas that come to earth and are like, I’m a Buddha. Alright? Now there were three of those before Śākyamūni Buddha.
Sorry. It’s it’s an Hindi word for stupid. Anyway, sorry. I’ve been trying to separate them out of my head. Buddha.
There were three Buddhas on earth before Śākyamūni Buddha. And no Buddhas. And there’s lots of other Buddhas that aren’t don’t come and do the whole Buddha thing. Okay. I’m alright now.
Buddha nature isn’t a synonym of emptiness in this school. In this presentation, there is what’s called both causal Buddha nature and resultant Buddha nature. No. Sorry. Naturally abiding Buddha nature and causal Buddha nature.
Okay. Okay, so they have a few arguments about the definition of what Buddha nature is, but in general, they have this idea that the nature, the, the continuum of the mind, yeah, is the naturally abiding Buddha nature and the emptiness of that continuum is the ultimate Buddha nature. Alright? So, the fact that you have a continuum of mind, yeah, not the minds themselves but the continuum of mind as the Buddha nature. And the perception of the emptiness of that Buddha nature is an antidote.
So there’s these two aspects to Buddha nature. And the perception of the emptiness of that mind is an antidote to negative states. So that means that you can’t posit negative states as coming about from Buddha nature because they are what’s called adventitious stains on the continuum that leads to Buddhahood. So as perception of Buddha nature leads to the perception of Buddha nature is another way of saying a realisation of emptiness then you can’t say that Buddha nature by itself leads to adventitious stains on that continuum. Therefore positive insights, positive states that are inspired by the Buddha can be come from Buddha nature.
Yeah? But they are based on that Buddha nature. Sorry, not come from but are based on that Buddha nature. Right? On the capacity of change in the mind.
But the negative states which are an obstruction to the development of that Buddha nature aren’t. Okay, sorry. I’ve got to say what I just said because I made a mistake. It’s not just Oh, sorry. It’s not just the continuum of mind that is the causal Buddha nature, it’s the continuum of mind that goes on to become a Buddha.
Right? So on that continuum of mind that goes on to become a Buddha you have adventitious stains. Yeah? That come about like negative states of mind and so on. But the subtle mind that is a that continues on and becomes a Buddha is the Buddha nature.
Right? And so as that mind doesn’t have is the continuum of the mind that it free from negative states, yeah, then it doesn’t have a you can’t say that it caused