Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 78-minute session, Geshe Pema Tsering works through verses 41–50 of Śāntideva’s Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life, using Śāntideva’s scaffold image — a condemned man physically transformed by terror, mouth dry and eyes sunken — to make concrete what dying with unresolved negative karma actually feels like. He then covers the first two of the four opponent powers for purification: developing genuine regret through reflecting on harm done and imagining the helplessness of a negative rebirth; and taking refuge as the support for that purification. The refuge section includes careful definitions of the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha jewels — stressing that the Buddha protects by showing the path, not through omnipotence — and closes with taking refuge in the bodhisattvas Samantabhādra, Mañjuśrī, and Avalokiteśvara. Suited to practitioners following a Mahāyāna study program.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 2005 08 30 Bodhisattvas Way of Life.mp3
UUID: 067b1124-38eb-4782-8842-55869fb8f616
Teacher: Geshe Pema Tsering
Collection: Bodhisattva Way of Life 2005 Mar -2007 (Geshe Pema Tsering)
Date: 2005-08-30
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 77.9 minutes
Words: ~6,409
Mhmm. Mhmm. Okay. So so in the text that he wrote on guru yoga, said, Okay. So he’s the second Pänchen Lama.
And he said in his text on guru yoga that it’s important to think about dedication from the beginning. In that, you should try to do whatever it is you’re going to do with the motivation that it is to benefit sentient being, all sentient beings without exception and is not stained by self-cherishing or thoughts of what we can get out of it. So, what he’s saying by this is that if we think that by doing something positive without this selfish attitude to benefit all beings without exception, that we’ll be able to dedicate a lot of positive potential towards attaining Buddhahood. We think that before we do anything, then that will set our motivation right and make sure that we have dedicated well as well. Alright.
So in this quote, this the second Pänchen Lama says, to get rid of all stains of, selfish thought or or doing things for our own goals or our own purposes and to focus on the idea of, doing something to benefit all sentient beings. Now, this, from, one perspective, we may take as being a bit strange or it may seem a bit strange to us, in that we are usually encouraged to do things for our own benefit and for the benefit of others. And we are not usually discouraged from doing things to benefit ourself. Many times in the teachings it describes, it implores us to do things for the benefit of self and others, for the purpose of self and others. But here it’s saying to do something that is completely unstained by the idea of our own benefit and the reason that the second Pänchen Lama said this is because he was trying to get us to focus on the equanimity of all beings including ourselves.
So, if we’re saying we’re not doing things for ourself, but we’re doing things for all sentient beings without exception, well then we are actually doing something for ourselves because we’re included within the all beings without exception bit, but we’re not making a specific mention of ourselves or focusing on ourselves specifically. We’re seeing ourselves as being another sentient being. Yeah? Or a a just another sentient being. So, we’re focusing on all sentient beings which includes us, but we’re not specifically focusing on us.
We are just part of the the large group of all sentient beings. So if we’re able to do something with this motivation, then whatever we do is incredibly going to is is going to be have very vast results because the motivation is incredibly vast. But if we have any stain of thinking, oh, it’s about me, then we’re very much limiting the positive potential that could come about with that action. So we consider ourselves to be beings who are trying to practice the Mahāyāna or the greater vehicle. And as beings who are trying to practice the Mahāyāna, then we need to be people who are motivated as much as possible by this idea that we want to lead all sentient beings out of suffering.
That we want to do be able to establish all sentient beings in a state beyond suffering. So this means that we need to focus on our motivation and have this as our motivation. We want all beings to be free from suffering and in order to bring this about, we need to become a Buddha. This is the this is what makes someone a Mahāyāna being. It’s also the cause for Buddhahood.
If we do anything motivated by this reason, then that action becomes a cause for Buddhahood. So because it’s why we it’s a re it’s a cause for becoming a Buddha and because it’s what we’re striving to do, then it’s something that we need to pay a lot of attention to. Mhmm. So this, especially, we need to pay attention to it when we’re concentrating on the motivation with which we do anything. If we do something motivated by this idea, then it brings vast results.
So this evening, we’re going to look at the text, the Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life. Before we do this, we can try and take a few minutes to think or to remember that the reason to study this text, to look at this text, to develop understanding of it, understanding that we won’t just know but can put into practice, therefore progress through the, paths of a Bodhisattva and become a Buddha who can lead all sentient beings out of suffering. So please meditate on that idea for a couple of minutes. This The section that we’re up to is the way we’ll have to experience suffering in this life as well as negative negativities if we don’t purify our negative actions. And we’re up to the middle bit of that which says we need to focus on the fear that comes from not performing meritorious actions.
And so, this means is if we think about the things that we haven’t done, then we’ll have a sense of fear that will lead us to seek refuge in something. Alright? So if we recognize what we haven’t done and then how we could have used our time more positively, created more merit that was going to do us do much more for us than the things that we’ve been distracted by, then we’ll get a sense of fear of the consequences of not doing those actions. And that fear, as well as developing regret also leads us to look for a refuge from our, from that fear. So that’s why we would turn to the Three Jewels.
So Śāntideva explains this in, verse forty one. The second part of where he says, for only goodness gained in life will help me. This alas is what I shrugged away. And what he’s saying is this, it’s only the virtuous things that we’ve done that can actually help us, that we can take with us, when we, when we die, that can actually cause us to experience happiness. And, these virtues are said to be, the the Three Jewels, the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha that we take refuge in.
Now, they’re the the same thing. So, If if we reflect on what we’ve done and that’s what we’re trying to do here, we’re trying to reflect on what we’ve done so that we can develop regret Sorry, what we’ve done or what we haven’t done. So that we can develop regret for what we have or haven’t done that was positive or negative or positive respectively. And then, not only develop a sense of regret for that, but then also go on to experience the need for a refuge. So if we we haven’t What we haven’t done is feel this sense of refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha, and we haven’t protected our ethics, and, we haven’t practiced generosity enough and we haven’t done all of the things that create positive potential in our mental continuum, and that alone can act as a true refuge to us.
So in this way, these positive actions that we’ve done are inspired by or dependent on the Buddha, the Dharma, the Sangha, and in this way, they are the ultimate refuge. So we haven’t done this. We haven’t we haven’t taken refuge like like this. We haven’t performed these meritorious actions. So this is something that we could have done, but we haven’t done.
And in not doing so, we’ve wasted our time. So the idea is to think about all the good things we could have done and develop a regret for not doing them. Alright. So then in the next verse, we’re looking at the anguish of regret, what what regret feels like. And this is described in verse number forty two.
So verse number forty two starts by saying, “Oh protectors.” Now protectors is another way of saying the Buddhas because they are those that grant protection. So that’s the first thing that it talks that this is the what the first two words mean. Then it says, I with so little heeding. So that means we didn’t have much concern for the things that we should have had concern for.
And it says, had hardly guessed at such horror as this. So what this means is we didn’t know what we don’t know or we don’t understand the suffering of saṃsāra, what sort of suffering beings actually experience in saṃsāra, whether they’re in the hell realms or whether they’re in the spirit or animal realms or even the realms of a human or or what it’s like to die when you been a a long life god who’s experienced bliss. We haven’t understood or we haven’t taken in what that suffering actually is about. And because we haven’t taken in what that suffering’s about, we don’t have any sense of fear of that suffering or any any sense that we don’t want to experience that suffering. We just pretend or we just turn a blind eye towards it.
And so, if we haven’t recognized the suffering that comes about in Samsāra, the suffering that we could experience in this life and our future lives, it means that we can get caught up in this life, this impermanent life that have at the moment. And so it says, and all for this brief transient existence have gathered so much evil to myself. So we can cannot we can we can fail to recognize that all of the things that we can work for in this life, all of the happiness that we can experience, all the things that we can accumulate are only going to be useful to us while we’re alive. And after we die, then the only thing that comes with us is our positive actions. And not only that, but also we have committed a lot of negative deeds and we’ve accumulated a lot of negative karma, through performing actions that were hurtful or harmful or motivated motivated by destructive emotions in order to protect our things, our experiences or the people close to us in this lifetime, which isn’t really going to help us at the time of death.
We just have to experience the results of that suffering if we don’t purify it. So we’re asking the Buddhas, the place of refuge for help because we’ve been careless and we haven’t thought well enough about the sufferings of the lower realms and the the and all of Samsāra. We haven’t understood this and not understanding this, we have mistaken our impermanent existence, the impermanent life that we have at the moment for something permanent, and on that basis, then we start doing things. We start doing things to help the people we care about or to hurt the people we don’t like, to accumulate things for ourselves to make ourselves feel good. We’ve done all of these things based on this misapprehension that what we do in this life actually the things of this lifetime, the impermanent things of this lifetime are actually going to make us happy.
So we’ve done all these negative things for that reason and that isn’t going to help us any and we are going to only experience suffering as a result of those. So it’s a good idea for us then to regret all of the negative things that we’ve done while we were misguided, while we misunderstood the meaning of this lifetime and thought that it was something other than impermanent. Mhmm. Mhmm. Mhmm.
Mhmm. Mhmm. So the next thing that we talk about is the the reason that great fear arises in people. And when they’re dealing when they’re developing regret or working towards developing regret, through thinking about death and thinking about what, they will regret at the time of death and, what will benefit them at the time of death. So this is covered in verses forty three and forty four.
So verse forty three says, the day they take him to the scaffold where his body will be torn and butchered, a man is changed, transfigured by his fear. His mouth is dry. His eyes start from his brow. Mhmm. Alright.
Yeah. So what that basically means, sunken from the brow, is that they — yeah, it means that his eyes are sunken in. So if someone is terrified about what’s gonna happen to them, then they physically undergo a change. So if someone knows if we if we for example were to know that today was going to be the day that we were going to be tortured tortured and butchered and torn limb from limb, then we would be experiencing so much fear that our mouth would go dry, eyes would become sunken in, we would physically be transformed by that fear and we would be that would be like the focus for what for everything we did was this experience that we were about to have.
So, if that’s the case then, the next verse goes on to say, if if so it is, then how will be my misery when stricken down beside myself with fear, I see the fiend, the messenger of death who turns on me his fell and dreadful gaze? So this means that what Alright. So what this means, I when it says, I see the fiend messenger of death who turns on me his fell and dreadful gaze. This is what beings are said to see when they are about to take a negative rebirth or a rebirth in hell or a spirit realm. The things that appear to them are said to be dreadful and terrifying.
So not only are they experiencing the fear of being separated from their body, through the death process, they then start seeing things. They see gross, disturbing beings who are pulling at them and trying to pull them into states of misery. This is what appears to them. We don’t need to talk about what this will feel like because we understand and that we if we think about it enough, we’ll understand that kind of fear. So if we were going to get tortured and killed, then we would we would have a clear understanding of what the death process was about or we would have a clear understanding of that we were going to die.
And if we were actually in the throes of dying and were to experience these grotesque creatures grabbing at us or that was at least what we saw when we were dying, then we would have a clear understanding of what is important at the time of death too. So these are the things, these are the examples, or these are the imagery that we can use to remind ourselves of what’s important because if we’re focused on these, then we’re not going to be caught up with more transient things. This one. Mhmm. Mhmm.
So what these two verses mean then is that if we were to if we were going to be tortured and ripped apart and killed in a really horrible way, then we would experience an amazing even physical transformation for the because of the great fear that we were undergoing. So, in the same way as this would happen at the time of death, if we haven’t done what we should have done or what would be best for us to have done, and we’ve only done negative things that were indulging in our negative emotions and our our hatred and our desire and so on, then we are going to be grabbed by the same sort of fear as if we were going to be tortured and and and rent asunder because the experiences and things that we see at that time will be very similar to that. So, we may be able to understand what it would be like to die having done awful things and not doing anything positive. If we think about what it would be like knowing that we’re about to be tortured and ripped apart. So that it will be the same sort of experience in both of those situations.
So thinking about that, it says it’s probably a good idea to regret your negative actions. Alright. Okay. So the next thing that we’re looking at is the way in which negativities cause one to be tormented by suffering in future lives. Sorry.
I just didn’t understand how the Uh-huh. Sorry. I didn’t understand how the title was linked to the verse, so I just had to ask. And I didn’t realize that I didn’t understand until I went to read it. So the title of this section is the way in which negativity has caused one to be tormented by suffering in future lives.
And this is dealt with with verses forty five and forty six of the Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life. Verse forty five says, who can save me? Who can now protect me from this horror, from this dreadful dread? And then I’ll search the four directions seeking help with panic stricken eyes. So, what this is talking about is if at the time of death, we haven’t done anything that we can actually take with us, that is we haven’t created any positive karma.
We haven’t created stores of positive potential that will abide in our mind stream and go with us into the next life. And we have done all sorts of negative things based on the temporary alliances and possessions of this lifetime, then we will be in a horrible state because we’ll be seeing all of these horrible images and be completely terrified as if we were being tortured, and, also have this sense that we’re waiting for something dreadful to happen. We’ll be in this state and then we’ll start looking around to see if anything could protect us. So it says that we will in the four directions to try and find something or someone to help us out of that situation, to help us to relieve the suffering that we are experiencing in terms of fear, but we’ll experience in the next lifetime. So then the next verse says, nowhere help or refuge will be found and sunk beneath the weight of sorrow, naked, helpless, and unprotected.
What, when this befalls me, shall I do? So it’s saying that if we if we do everything that’s negative and we hurt other beings all the time and we have to experience the results of that negative karma, then that this will be the way that we experience it as intense suffering, as as a being who is about to be reborn in intense into a situation of intense suffering with no protection from that intense suffering and no no escape. So no protection and or escape from that situation. And in that situation, there’s nothing we can do. We’re not capable of doing something to remedy our situation, so we need to make sure that this doesn’t happen to us.
But the point of thinking about all these things, the point of thinking, oh, I’ve done negative things and or bad things and that’s gonna lead to me to experience suffering, is that we have a really good reason for regretting the bad things we’ve done. It’s not so we sit there dwelling on what awful things are going to happen to us in a fatalistic way. It’s so that we have a catalyst or a cause for wanting to for for for regret. A cause for regret. So we think, I’ve done all these horrible things, even things I can’t remember.
I’m usually under the influences of my negative emotions. And so I don’t wanna experience the results of all of the negative karma that I’ve accumulated. I wanna be purified of that karma. I I really deeply regret what I’ve done. So this is this is why we’re focusing on these images.
It’s not to make ourselves feel bad or depressed. Mhmm. Alright. So if we’re going to be reborn in hell because we’ve done such awful things that we’ve created the causes for that, then when we see the guards of hell, that is the beings that take us there, we’ll be letting out a scream of pain. And the reason I was giggling is because I didn’t understand this word that means a scream of pain, and I looked up in the dictionary, it said it was a keening wail.
And I was like, A keening? Alright. That is like hell is other people. Yeah? So then when we’re in that state, when we’re screaming out with pain, and then there’s no one who would actually able to help us if we don’t even know to turn to anyone for help.
So we will be experiencing such intense fear that our whole physical being will be transformed into someone who is, you know, our eyes are sunken, where our mouth is dry. We’re completely transformed by the the experience of the fear. It’s so intense. And we If we don’t know to look for a refuge, then we won’t find refuge in the four directions. And if we are ignorant to the idea of the protective power of the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha and the ability that the practicing Dharma has to alleviate our suffering and to get rid of our fears, then we have no refuge in that situation.
We need to know that there is a refuge in order to be able to find it. And also, if we are reborn in a helpless state without any sense of refuge, then the experience of the fear the fear of this suffering and the suffering itself would both be unbearable and we won’t we’ll be so overwhelmed by suffering that we’re experiencing that there’d be a there’s no way that we could create the sense of refuge in our mind stream. So what we need to do is strongly work on this idea, strongly work on the idea that we turn to the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha for refuge from the suffering of Samsāra, to follow the instructions, put them into practice in order to become Buddhas. We need to work on that idea so that that’s with us, when we’re going through this traumatic time, and then we it can protect us from from the the experiences that may come to us. So it at the time of death when we’re experiencing all this turmoil and all of this intense sense of fear or suffering that comes with leaving the body, it’d be very difficult for us to turn our mind towards the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha if we haven’t developed the habit of doing that, if we haven’t thought about refuge, if we haven’t trained ourselves in refuge in this in this lifetime.
So in order to stop ourselves from experiencing the suffering that is a result of our negative actions, we need to develop this sense of refuge in life so that we can bring it to mind in death. And if we develop it in life and we bring it to mind in death, then we we can find a way out of the results of our negative actions. So by looking to the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha for safe direction away from the the results of that suffering. Mhmm. Uh-huh.
Okay. So that was the second of the four powers, the four opponent powers. No. Sorry. That was the first.
We just finished the first of the four opponent powers, which is developing the idea of regret. And then the next thing that we look at is the the idea of a support for the purification process, which is the second of the four opponent powers. Mhmm. So the the first one was regret. Right?
The first power that we need to think about is regret. And so if we have a sense of what we’ve done, what we could possibly have done, and we through all of the things that we could have done that would create suffering for ourselves whose result would be suffering. And then that’s why one way of developing regret. The other way is to think about the results of those actions. So we can think about the actual things that we’ve done and how that may have harmed others or may have hurt others, and we can also bring to mind what the results of those actions would be in terms of the suffering that we would experience as a the the result of a negative action.
So it’s two ways we look at regret. And then having developed that sense of regret, we’re trying to look now for a way of purifying the negative things that we’ve done. And the first thing that we use to purify the negative things we’ve done is this idea of a basis for or a support for purification. This section, the second power, the power of support has three different parts. The first is, from this moment, relying on the refuge of the Three Jewels.
And the second one is to rely on the children of the conquerors or the Bodhisattvas who possess powerful aspirational prayers. And the third one is having gone for refuge, practice in accordance with the instructions of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Mhmm. Mhmm. Right.
So the first verse that deals with this idea of taking refuge in Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha, it says, thus from this day forth, I go for refuge to Buddha’s guardians of wandering beings who labor for the good of all that lives, those mighty ones who scatter every fear. Sorry. I’m just struggling because a lot of these verses, they they sound very nice and very poetic, but they haven’t done them in the same order as the Tibetan. And so when I’m trying to adapt Geshe-la’s description of what the verse means, which follows the order that Tibetans into the one the English is, whereas all upside down about the front and some bits are joined together the other way. It’s very much in an adaptation, I’m afraid.
It’s a bit tricky. So I was just explaining that to him. And now I’ll explain it to you. Now I’ll try and translate. That’s nice.
But I convinced every I thought this this is the most poetic one and got everyone to buy it. So now I’m stuck with it. Yeah. Yeah. So it’s it’s very pretty.
So it says, thus from this day day forth, I go for refuge to Buddha’s guardians of wandering beings. So it means that having seen that this could be the situation that I could encounter, that I would have to experience the results of all the negative things that I’ve done, that we’ve done, and then we need we need some sort of protection from that. We need something that’s gonna guide us away from the experience of the results of those sufferings. And then it says here that the Buddhas are the guardians of wandering beings. Wandering beings being those who wander in Samsāra.
So the Buddhas have the capacity to protect us from the results of our negative karma. Now, the way that they have the capacity to protect us from the results of our negative karma is described in the next two lines, which says, who labor for the good of all that lives, those mighty ones who scatter It doesn’t describe it. Sorry. Geshe-la described it. Those mighty ones who scatter every fear.
So the Buddhas scatter every fear by teaching the Dharma, by showing us how to, purify our minds, accumulate merit, by showing us how to enter into the path towards Buddhahood, and then they’re able to allay our fears. If we know how to purify our negative actions, if we know how to accumulate merit, if what we do is motivated by wanting to attain Buddhahood and lead all sentient beings out of sorrow, then we don’t have anything to fear. Alright? So the Buddha’s in showing us the Dharma in in explaining it to us, show how us how to be free of fear. And this is the way that they it says they scatter every fear.
And this is all that they do. They they do this for the benefit they work in this way for the benefit of sentient beings at at all times without without stopping. So the Buddhas in this way can show us how not to experience suffering and lead us out of suffering. And in doing this, then they are said to be the perfect refuge. And the next verse deals with the two other objects of refuge and this says, in the Dharma that resides within their hearts, I’ll scatter all the terrors of Samsāra, and in the multitude of Bodhisattvas likewise I will perfectly take refuge.
So when it says in the Dharma that resides within their hearts, it’s talking about what is called the Dharma jewel. So, the Dharma jewel is the true paths and true cessations in the continuum of Ārya beings. So, that means that based on the realization of emptiness that Aryas have, then other realizations that they experience are all said to be either true paths in that they are true realizations and true cessations in that they lack grasping, the grasping itself and then grasping at the subtle existence of phenomena has been alleviated, has been abandoned. So these these two types of realization, the realization of the lack of inherent existence and the realization of the path is said to be the Dharma jewel and if beings have this in their mind stream, then they don’t experience any fear. So in this way, the Dharma jewel, the realizations of true paths and true cessations is the antidote to any type of fear, and therefore, it’s something to take refuge in, to look for look towards in order to be free of fear and free of suffering.
And likewise, the beings who possess these realizations are called Bodhisattvas. So, if we are looking to help as to how to develop these realizations, if we’re looking to for help as to how to live in a way that’s going to stop us experiencing suffering, then the beings with this realization are also valid objects of refuge. And so this is why the line says, likewise, I will perfectly take refuge. So that means that in the same way that we take refuge in the Buddha, we should also take refuge in the Dharma and the bodhisattvas. Sorry.
Sorry. A multitude of Sangha in Tibetan is another way of saying the Sangha. Does everybody know what an Ārya path is? Do you know what an Ārya is? I said, yes, though.
When I went to translate it, I almost started explaining it. And then I thought, that’s not my job. That’s yours. Mhmm. Okay.
So Alright. So there very specific definitions for exactly what Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha mean though. So it’s not just Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha generally. The the Three Jewels you take refuge in aren’t vague notions of those things. They’re very specific.
Alright? So the definition of a Buddha in this instance then is some a being who has completely gotten rid of the two obscurations. That is things that could obscure them from experiencing liberation and the cessation of suffering and things that could obscure obscure their omniscient knowledge. Alright? So any being that has gotten rid of those two completely is a Buddha and that or the Buddha jewel, something to take refuge in.
The Dharma jewel is said to be the true paths and true cessations in the continuum of Aryas. Ārya beings are those we’re talking about here specifically on the Mahāyāna path who’ve realized emptiness directly. As soon as you realize emptiness directly, you become an Ārya. In that case, the qualities that the Ārya beings or the superior beings have that leads them to Buddhahood is the true paths. The thing that they have realized the lack of is the true cessation.
Yeah? And then the beings who who have those realizations in their continuum are the Sangha. Right? So it says the collection of the then you’re that you’re taking refuge in. You’re taking refuge in beings with those realizations.
So the refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma, and the in this way is very specific. Alright. So what something that we can go for refuge is something that can save us from experiencing the sufferings of the lower realms. So if there’s something that we can look to, that would lead us away from that suffering, that can show us, that can save us from being born born into states of extreme suffering like this, then we’d say that that is something that’s a valid object of refuge. And the three valid objects of refuge are said to be the the triple gem, the Three Jewels.
The first of which is said to be the victor or the, with the Buddha who is the protector of all beings, works continuously in order to alleviate the suffering and the fear of all sentient beings, and through their great power is able to purify completely that suffering. Now, the way that they do this though is by showing the way out of Samsāra, not through omnipotence. So, by showing that, that’s the way that they are able to protect beings. I’m sorry for doing this. I’m struggling in trying to find a way to say it in English that doesn’t make it sound like they’re omnis omnipotent.
Alright. So, I just realized when I was trying to say this in English that it made it sound like the Buddha was the one that was getting rid of the causes for suffering from our our minds and that’s not the case. So, the Buddha the way that the Buddha is able to protect us from suffering is by showing us how to purify our minds. If the Buddha was able to have purified our minds and stop us from experiencing suffering, they would have already done that. But they don’t have that ability because they’re not us.
So the only beings that have the ability to purify, our mind streams is ourselves. But the way that the Buddhas help us, the way that they protect us is by showing us how to do that. So we have refuge when we follow their instructions and purify our own mind streams. We don’t have refuge in the sense that they have control over us. Oh, Then the realizations in the mind stream of a Buddha that they enable them to show to us how to purify the causes for saṃsāra and the sufferings of saṃsāra and the things that act as the antidote for saṃsāra themselves.
These realizations are said to be the Dharma jewel. The bodhisattvas who are close to achieving the state of Buddhahood and want to help working are working very hard to benefit all sentient beings are also our place for refuge. And they are said to be the friends that enable us to us to achieve the paths to Buddhahood. Achieve the there’s different stages of the path to Buddhahood. So the next thing that we’re taking refuge then in then is the Bodhisattvas.
The the the children of the conquerors who possess powerful aspirational prayers, it says. So this is looked at in verse number forty nine and most of verse number fifty, where it says, grouped by dread beside myself with terror. So, this is the situation we were talking about before, when we find ourselves completely at the mercy of our karma, at the negative deeds that we may have done before. Then it says, to Samantabhādra I will give myself, and to Mañjuśrī, the melodious and gentle, I will give myself entirely. So that isn’t necessarily to mean that you’re giving yourself more to Mañjuśrī than to Samantabhādra.
It’s just a way that they’ve been that they’ve added extra lines to the words to the line. And then next verse says, to him whose loving deeds are steadfast, oh my guardian, I cry out from the depths of misery. So is and saying, crying out from the depths of misery means recognizing what we’ve done, recognizing that we unless we purify it, unless we have refuge, then we are going to experience the results of that that we cry out for help, for protection. Then experiencing this intense fear of the sufferings of the lower realm, then we in this instance, we turn to the Bodhisattvas for protection. Now, the reason we’re turning to the Bodhisattvas for protection is that they have immense power, strong power through the force of their prayers.
So, they’re making prayers all the time to work for the benefit of sentient beings and lead sentient beings out of suffering. So, because of this motivation then they are objects or beings that we can rely on. The first of the Bodhisattvas that we turn to here is the Bodhisattva Samantabhādra and we say, I give myself to you in order to receive protection, so please grant me protection. And then the next person that we request protection from is the Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī. So we say, I have no other support but you, so please, I offer you my mind and body.
Please protect me. Then the next person that we turn to for protection is said to be Hang on, I’ve got to get all these compliments right. To Avalokiteśvara, the unmistaken being whose activities are beautiful compassion, working for the benefit of all, without a sense of self and other continuously and spontaneously. That’s, yeah, And it says, in order to protect me from my fears, I cry out to you for help from with a sense of sheer misery or from a sense of sheer misery, I cry out to you for help. Padmasambhava?
No. Yeah. Okay. So we can finish there and if you have any questions.