Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 36-minute Q&A session, Geshe Pema Tsering clears up a common misreading: the Bodhisattva Way of Life verses about giving away one’s body refer to mental training — cultivating the aspiration to give — not literal self-sacrifice. Gender, he explains, is irrelevant to enlightenment; what matters is training the mind and practising the six perfections. Discussion then moves through the body’s lack of independence (arising from karma and afflictive emotions, constantly changing beyond our control), its link to emptiness, and how both body and mind share this conditioned nature. A student raises a sharp challenge about verse sixteen’s instruction to wish benefit even for those who harm you — asking whether such a teaching helps people unfamiliar with Buddhism. Geshe-la’s answer: studying the Dharma is precisely how the mind gains independence. Suited to students actively working through the text.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 2005 10 11Q Bodhisattvas Way of Life.mp3
UUID: 3099e81a-5c19-4736-b40a-2222573cfca4
Teacher: Geshe Pema Tsering
Collection: Bodhisattva Way of Life 2005 Mar -2007 (Geshe Pema Tsering)
Date: 2005-10-11
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 36.8 minutes
Words: ~1,544
What are we to do with that? So then Geshe-la explains that these verses, they are referring not to the actual giving of one’s body, but they’re referring to training one’s mind, the thinking in this manner, the thinking of giving the body and so forth. Mhmm. But it’s not referring to actual giving like we we read in there. So I think it didn’t convey I wasn’t able to convey the meaning.
But then what Geshe-la is saying is that there is a in order in relation to achieving enlightenment, it doesn’t matter if one has a is a man or a woman that if one wants to achieve enlightenment, one has to train in the mind of enlightenment, one has to engage in the in the six perfections and so forth. And and whoever does that, be male or female, doing that probably will attain enlightenment. That’s what Geshe-la was explaining to me. This doesn’t make any difference. Is explained now as as as to the as to one regarding one’s body as as important as to this, what is being said in the text here now.
And then I’ll say is that at the point where we are at, we cannot actually give our bodies away. But then what is meant is that we have to meditate in this fashion and get used to thinking of aspiring to give, to be able to give one’s body away. And then thinking in this manner will help turn our actions into beneficial actions. And I explained that because what is behind every action that makes them into good or bad actions is our thinking. And again, I say, thinking this manner is beneficial, and it’s going to turn your actions help turn your actions into beneficial action.
If you have bad thoughts, and then you you you end up with bad actions. Right? So it says, thinking in this manner is good because it will help you to engage in positive or virtuous action. Does that help?
Where? I just want to understand clearly now. Let me see if I can find it.
So the support So then explained that what is meant with one’s body not being independent, it means that this body is the result of karma. This body is a product of karma and afflictive emotions or thoughts. And then how do you say so good karma karma provides any happiness that we might be experiencing, and negative karma will will make us experience suffering. And then also, this non independence of the body refers to the fact that the body is constantly changing at every moment that think it is an impermanent phenomena. So this body is is not growing younger, is growing older at every moment, and it’s out of our control.
So if we had any power over it, over the body, and then we if we had any power over this body, then we could make it stop from growing old, and we could leave young forever and so forth. So so that’s that’s what is meant by it not being independent because it depends on on all this karma and I think the emotions, makes make it impermanent and so forth. So then can explain that, actually, every. I ask you, what is the is is there any relation between this body that is not independent and emptiness? And then I explain this actually, there is a relation every phenomenon that has a relation with emptiness because every phenomena is empty because the nature of every phenomena is emptiness. So this body is also empty.
So there is a it’s not it’s not a there is no it’s not a specific relation, particular relation, special relation between the the body that is not independent. It’s just that every phenomenon has a relation with emptiness because every phenomenon is empty. It’s okay? Shall we? You want Yes?
I think it was verse seventeen. Anger being a basis. But Yes. Yes. Causes.
I’m just wondering. Understand. Yeah. Online. It’s all good.
Yeah. It’s seventeen. Listen. Yeah. Seventeen.
Okay. Sixteen. Sixteen. Sixteen. So I guess I’m questioning how many if that if I interpret it right, how could it end them?
Those good question. So he’s just saying we should we should we should think, we should wish that okay. If if he gets angry with me, and he’s he’s going to harm me, or if he has faith towards me, it’s going to be good for me. But whatever he does whatever whatever action he does to me may be good for him, may be beneficial for him. And that’s how we should think.
You know, I explained this is how we should think. Yeah. So, again, I it says again, if if somebody gets angry, if if then out of anger, they will harm you, and out of faith, they will do something beneficial to you. And whatever is that they do, and we should think that may may just be beneficial for them. May this turn into something beneficial for them.
And then what you what you you say? So, yeah, again, with even with this killing, it’s just we should it’s a meditation again, it’s training your mind again, he says, and we should think whatever they do, be it killing or beating or hurting or benefiting me in some way. What I would do, we should think may become causes maybe beneficial for them, the causes for them accomplishing benefits for themselves. It’s just the way we think, and I say, it’s just the way we explains that this there is a reason behind all this. And Geshe-la is saying that all these people, they’re causing us harm, they’re bringing harm to us right now.
They in previous lives, in our previous lives, they have they have actually they brought us a lot of benefit actually being our parents or so forth. They benefited us a lot. And then we, on the other hand, we have caused them harm. So now as a karmic retribution, are experiencing this. That’s is the reasoning behind it.
So what you’re saying is, you know, yeah, you know, let it all let it all come harm me. And it it I mean, in a sense, it’s a risk in the teaching in some ways that Okay. For okay. For so you mean that for having someone is who who doesn’t have much understanding of Buddhist or is not a Buddhist? Oh.
Just come fresh in this class and you know? Okay. So he said he said, I was explaining to to him. Right? Some people, maybe they they don’t know much about the Dharma.
Maybe they are not very bright, or maybe they are these Masochistic kind of people. You know? And explain that Masochistic is somebody who who enjoys experiencing suffering and harm. And he and and then and then he’s he’s saying, such a person doesn’t know the difference between good and bad, a virtue, non virtue, or or or suffering and and happiness. You know?
So for them, of course, they they will probably not derive any benefit from from such a teaching because they they they don’t have the discernment. But then it’s yeah. Just like, yeah. I said that such a well, he’s in the is like a little bit crazy. So yeah.
Yeah. So they they won’t Yes. Emptiness of what? Mind. Yes.
Yes. I ain’t sure if I Yeah. Okay. Can you rephrase it? See, as as as it goes with the body, that you that you mean as as our body is is not independent and it depends on karma and afflictive emotions.
So so does the mind is is the same, is it? Okay. So yeah. Yeah. So the body is I mean, the mind is the mind is, how do you say, lack independence in the same way as the body, and that and that it depends on causes.
Right? It also rises from from from from karma and afflictive emotions. So and that’s that’s the present condition of of our both our bodies and our minds. But then in respect to the mind, we’re gonna say that then we have, we have to to make it independent, or we have to make it it’s it’s a tricky it’s a tricky thing because the term in Tibetan can be translated in many different ways. Okay?
So so we can be talking of the mind as being dependent or we we we could be talking we could be saying we we should have power or some some some control over the minds. We we should have some in the some level of independence over our minds. And then and then I asked him, he says and then he said because I was confused with this translation, I asked him, so how do we make our minds independent? And then he says, and then Geshe-la says, then we study the dharma. And then we know good from bad and so forth.
We study the dharma. That’s what we’re doing. Pardon? Yes. Yes.
Okay. Can we can we finish today? Yes. Oh, yeah. Yeah?
Page what’s it? Twenty six. Six.