Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. How does motivation determine whether an act is selfish or selfless? In this 25-minute Q&A session, Geshe Pema Tsering works through that question with students, using the concrete example of attending a teaching: coming to gain Buddhahood for oneself is selfish; coming because all sentient beings need to be freed from suffering is selfless — the outward action is identical, only the prior intention differs. He then addresses a follow-up: what if your good-motivated act still fails to make another person happy? The anger of the recipient, he explains, is that person’s own affliction — your virtue is unaffected. The session closes with encouragement for students daunted by the long path to enlightenment, anchored by the analogy of walking to Sydney: if you stop because the journey seems too hard, you will never arrive.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 2006 02 14Q Bodhisattvas Way of Life.mp3
UUID: e7896ab9-b8bb-47d1-8165-222319b60fec
Teacher: Geshe Pema Tsering
Collection: Bodhisattva Way of Life 2005 Mar -2007 (Geshe Pema Tsering)
Date: 2006-02-14
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 24.8 minutes
Words: ~1,196
House must must buy a new house. So now if you have any questions? Here. Yeah. You always have question.
No nobody wants to ask any question here. Feel free. Feel free. Yes. Be good to me, Be good to me.
Be good to me. Mercy. Have mercy. No. Forget.
Just ask your question. It’s okay. So then Geshe-la is saying that, first, he speaks to me in Tibetan, and then I translate, I speak back to you in English. And then after that, after what was said, Geshe-la says, you must then stop to think it over — of what was said, what was taught. And then if you think it over, if you start to think it over, then not only you will not forget what was taught, you also probably come about with usually come with questions.
So that’s the Geshe-la’s instruction, Geshe-la’s instruction. You have question here? Easy question? Simple? Straightforward?
Cool. Yes. Mhmm. Distinguish. Distinguish.
So this action. Okay. And are there any point So So I explain to you how I’m going to translate to him, okay? So it’s usually as when you talk about selfless and selfish, okay? So usually, from the Tibetan, okay, I’m going to use the equivalent in Tibetan, which is usually translated in English as working for the welfare of others, that would be selfless.
Okay? And working for one one’s own welfare. That’s the expression the latter, okay? For one’s own benefit, for one’s own happiness, and working for the happiness of others and working for one’s own happiness, okay? So working for the happiness of others, selfless.
Okay? And working for one’s own happiness, selfish. Okay? So I’m going to ask how we can distinguish. Okay?
So then, again, he says that you can understand if you are working for the benefit of another or for the benefit of oneself, if you if you look at the motivation that you gave rise before you engage in the activity you are engaging. So it’s the motivation of the mind that came before. So if if you engage in the activity for for the benefit of someone else, you know, you think of benefiting someone else. So I’m going to benefit that person, and then you engage in whatever activities. Then you know that you’re not doing it for yourself.
You’re doing it. So then So then is giving you, here, yourself as an example. So you come here to listen to the teachings. So if before you come to the teachings, you’re thinking, oh, I’m going to to listen to the teachings so that I may attain Buddhahood for myself. If you’re thinking for if you’re thinking like this, then you do it self selfish selfishly self selfish selfishly for yourself alone.
Now if if if you think before you come to the decision, you think, must achieve enlightenment in order to benefit all sentient beings and free sentient beings from suffering. So because of that, I must come attain enlightenment and I must come here to the teachings to listen to the teachings. Then if before you come to the teachings to listen to it, then give us this motivation and you’re doing it selflessly for the sake of others. So even though the action is the same, you came to listen to the teachings, it’s the same action, the same activity, but the motivation makes makes a difference. It’s the mind that gave rise beforehand.
Okay. I’m this is a subtle subtle part that I know that even though, you know, I have a right motivation to benefit others, other one doesn’t necessary. I I know perfectly what you’re saying. So so but is that still in this moment, doesn’t I I I can’t make this one other one happy. But So what’s what’s your question?
What’s my question? Yeah. Because, yeah, I understand what you’re saying. It’s the most common thing ever. So then he’s saying that, for example, if you give rise, you have given rise to good motivation and have engaged in activity in order to benefit someone else.
Now you did that and that’s that person got angry. That person getting angry is that person’s fault. Okay, is that person’s accumulating negativity. He is afflicted by afflictive emotions and conceptions. Now you, irrespective of the other person being happy or angry with what you did, you will still benefit.
You will still derive benefit from it. And that’s why you should keep on doing it. Okay? Yes, please. Short term goals.
My life. Like the stages to the path to enlightenment? Well, know, things might seem so far away. And one must develop renunciation, and then bodhicitta, and then emptiness, and then tantra, highest yoga tantra. Small things.
So the translator is saying that what Geshe-la said was like this. Yes, it does take a long time to obtain enlightenment, very long time it does take, but we should not be disheartened with such thoughts as, oh, it takes such a very long time. I’m not going to be able to accomplish that. We should not give in to such thoughts and we should not put aside this goal of attainment of enlightenment just because it takes such a long time. We should practice because if we do give in to such thoughts, and if we do put aside the mind of enlightenment, then we will not be able to accomplish any happiness whatsoever, not only in this life, not even in future lives.
Is is that okay? It’s okay? Does that answer your question? Partly. And we have to collect the unmistaken causes and all the causes and conditions as it was.
So Geshe-la is giving an analogy. Okay? So for example, if we if we need to go to Sydney, but we need to go to Sydney, but we do not have a car. So we must then we must go walking. Right?
So it’s gonna take a long time. It’s going to be very difficult. So then if we if we think, oh, it’s gonna take such a very long time. It’s going to be so difficult. And then we give in to such thoughts and then we do not go, then we will never going to arrive in Sydney.
So for example, so Geshe-la says, yeah, before you achieve enlightenment, yes, there are things to be accomplished, and the things to be accomplished will bring you benefit. And Geshe-la gives us one example. Okay. This is a after this, I’m I’m going to finish. Okay.
So Geshe-la gives us one example. If if you can accomplish to bring forth an uncontrived mind of enlightenment. Right? A mind of enlightenment that comes about at all times, uninterruptedly. Meaning, if you accomplish that, you have accomplished the first bodhisattva level.
You have become a bodhisattva. If you have accomplished for example, you have finished with all sufferings. You don’t experience any more sufferings. So there’s a benefit already. For example, this this this I’m going to I’m going to finish now.
Okay? This is yeah. Yeah. It comes. It happens.
Here, you want to finish first?