Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. Delivered on the Buddhist Day of Miracles — the fifteenth day of the first Tibetan month, when merit is said to multiply a hundred-thousand-fold — this 64-minute session by Geshe Pema Tsering completes the introductory material of Chapter Five before reaching the root verses. He covers the etymologies of all six perfections, then Nāgārjuna’s results for each: wealth, happy rebirth, a beautiful body, effortless accomplishment, calm abiding, and the power to abandon afflictions. He then reads and unpacks Chapter Five’s opening verse — that guarding practice requires first guarding the mind — and identifies the mental opponent threatening each perfection: miserliness, broken vows, anger, laziness, distraction, and ignorance. The session closes with Śāntideva’s striking comparison: a wild elephant can only kill you, but an unguarded mind can send you to hell.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 2006 03 14 Bodhisattvas Way of Life.mp3
UUID: 9595219b-17c2-45c5-a289-c63bd2feeb2a
Teacher: Geshe Pema Tsering
Collection: Bodhisattva Way of Life 2005 Mar -2007 (Geshe Pema Tsering)
Date: 2006-03-14
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 64.7 minutes
Words: ~4,592
So then Geshe-la is quoting a verse from the Bodhisattva Way of Life itself from this chapter, which is the fifth chapter on on guarding alertness itself. The verse reads something like this. The knower of reality, which which is the Buddha, has said that even if recitation and physical hardships are practiced for long periods of time, they will be meaningless if the mind is distracted elsewhere. So then Mhmm.
So then, again, I was explaining. So then so no matter what Dharma practice we are doing, if our mind is is is distracted, is wavering, then it won’t it won’t it won’t be meaningful. So Geshe-la is saying, on top of that, the text is calling our attention also. Geshe-la is calling our attention to the motivation. If we have it unwavering, and then we we we then listen to the teachings, and then it will become good Dharma practice.
Saying on top of all that, they were talking about the motivation. He’s saying again, today is a is a is a one important day in the Buddhist calendar, which is usually translated is translated in English also as a day of miracles. So this is a very special day, and every activity that we do, the power of the those activities, whatever activities we are doing are multiplied by a hundred thousand times or something like that. So because of that, because today is a very special day in the Buddhist calendar, then Geshe-la says, so then, again, we must give we must be careful now, and we must give rise to a good motivation. And then having given us a good motivation, we we listen to the teachings, and then we think over the teachings.
And then having done that, we will be accumulating a a great amount of of merit. Today is is the day of miracles, which is the fifteenth day of the Tibetan or the first Tibetan month. And it’s the day where where the Buddha was performing miracles in order to subdue, let’s say, non-Buddhist non-Buddhist preachers who that he himself had emanated. So in order to subdue these non-Buddhist teachers, he performed many miracles, and and he defeated them in debate and and through miracles and through the performance of miracles. And then great faith was aroused aroused in the in the audience that was present.
Okay? So then, yeah, I say, so today, in this day, which is the fifteen days of this Tibetan month, it’s a it’s this this great celebration. And then Geshe-la is saying that in in in Lhasa, everybody goes to perform circumambulations around the temples and the monasteries there and make huge offerings. Everybody makes a huge amount of offerings and so forth. So then can I say so then nowadays, those celebrations, they cannot also do the celebrations in Lhasa itself because it was taken over by by the Chinese?
But still in India, people do these these celebrations just the way it was done before. In in in India, you have the great monasteries, Ganden, Sera, and people do the circumambulations, the great offerings, the great pujas, and they do all sorts of activities in order to collect merit. And they do all they engage in all sorts of virtuous activities. And then, again, today in Buddha House, in for this occasion of the the day of miracles, there was in this afternoon, there was maybe a few people that came here to read the Sanghata Sūtra. It was done because of the day of miracles.
And then, Geshe-la was saying like this, a lot of great benefits will follow from that. And then and again now, at this time, we here should we are going to listen to the teachings. We’re going to think about the teachings. And and whatever activity that we do, whatever virtuous activity that we do, all these virtues we have to dedicate to the enlightenment of all sentient beings. So with with this motivation in mind, the motivation of attaining enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings, we are now going to do this.
And then because of the the this this particular day, great positive energy will be generated. So then, I guess, today is a is a very special day where people can can accommodate great amounts of virtue, positive energy in in the world. And Geshe-la says, probably, are other places where this there is a special day like this. And he’s asking, is in Japan, you have today special is is it a special day today in Japan? If you see a holiday, there’s a special day, and this is a special day.
No. But but you don’t know now. So, probably, there is because it’s a Buddhist thing, because it was the day that the Buddha subdued his opponents. There’s no Buddhist preachers. So probably there is this this celebration.
It is or there is an occasion, an important occasion. So then even though now we we how do say, we don’t have we don’t have a each one of us doesn’t have a great accumulation of merit. We don’t have much power. But if now, today, altogether, we we dedicate this merit to the other, then we will become very powerful. So then I say, so then now we we have to give rise to this thought that all we must all sentient beings must achieve enlightenment in order to accomplish that.
Then we we collect, we gather together all the merits, all the virtues of of the world, and and and we dedicate it. We we think of the body force of this merit, may I then become enlightened for the sake of. Yeah. Yeah. Yes.
As if you meditate too long, then you’re gonna fall asleep. Oh, yeah. So then we are still on the very introduction of chapter five of the Bodhisattva Way of Life, of the commentary to the Bodhisattva Way of Life. So this is still an introduction, which is a part of the commentary itself. It’s not the root text too.
So and we are in in in the part of the text, which is the explanation of the meaning of the names of the six perfections. So then the first one is mentioned is Dana. In Sanskrit, it’s called Dana, which is to discard how do say? Which which is to discard or to abandon. Yeah.
To bring to an end this poverty or yeah, poverty by so and that is called generosity. But then Gela explains, it is not just it is it is a mind, a state of mind, which is a mind which is a how do you say? When Geshe-la was explaining the the word, this translated as as poverty or or destitute, It’s a state of mind that thinks of oneself of being poor. I don’t have the resources. I don’t have the wealth, etcetera.
So it’s a state of mind. It’s developing a state of mind. And then I expanded even more now on the on the word, which is translated as destitute. So or poor in this case. So then I was explaining.
So we practice giving or generosity. If somebody to somebody who needs, for example, who needs clothes, then we give them clothes. If somebody needs food, then we give them food. If somebody needs, how do say, money, then we them money. And if somebody needs dharma, then we give them dharma.
This one. So then and the next one, which is in Sanskrit is called is is is that is the morality which cools cools down the the heat of the afflictive emotions, the fire of the afflictive emotions, burning fire of the afflictive emotions. Emotions. And Geshe-la was explaining, so that morality what what is a morality then? This is, for example, if when we get when we can rid ourselves of of attachment, then that ridding ourselves of attachment is cooling down attachment.
And then, again, when we can rid ourselves of of of anger or aversion, then, again, that ridding ridding ourselves of that anger and aversion, that is cooling down the cooling down of anger and aversion. That is morality. And then and then the text the commentary itself changes to to another way of of explaining the six perfections. And then he’s refers to in this way, the text is saying this way, if we give an etymological definition or through an etymological by an etymological way, if we we look into the six perfections, then the text say, if we bear if we bear or if we are patient with anger, then that is patience. And then Geshe-la saying, well, even even though there are different patience, then the text is referring to one type here.
And then Geshe-la is saying that if this to bear with patience here, Geshe-la use a different different words to explain that is to say if we can get rid again, if we can get rid of of of anger, then we are practicing patience. And then the next, as for the next perfection, then if the text was to say, he use uses a word that is translated as as great something that is very good. So if we we accomplish that which is great, then that is joyous joyous effort or joyous perseverance. And, again, I was explaining, again, referring back to the definition of joy joyous perseverance. That joy’s perseverance is is is that state of mind which which takes joy in virtuous deeds.
And then if that likes virtuous deeds. So if if you like virtuous deeds, then you can engage in them. You can practice them. And then the next one, which is a concentration or absorption is referred to and and the in in the Tibetan, they use the word which is to hold or to grasp or to capture, and Geshe-la was even mentioning the Sanskrit word, which is the word to to grasp. So it’s the it’s it’s it’s the holding of the mind holding the mind, then one has one have concentration.
So not allowing the mind to go here and there, but holding the mind onto that one object of of meditation if one is engaging. So what holds the mind there, that is concentration. In in Tibetan? Oh, no. No.
No. That’s those were just the first two percept the the first two perfections, the one mentioned in Sanskrit, but the the other ones, no. This one. Probably. I don’t know.
And then as for the last perfection, which is the perfection of wisdom, this is knowing if one knows the ultimate, then that is that is wisdom. And, again, I said, well, again, the text is referring to the ultimate, to your absolute to the absolute. But then you have you have conventional wisdom, and you have a ultimate wisdom, but generally explains. So then knowing exactly what one’s object is one’s object of observation is, then that is referred to as wisdom. And this one.
And then now we go to our next topic, which is called results. So the results of the six perfections, and Geshe-la said this for the six perfections, there are many uncommon results or effects that follow the path of the six perfections. And then the text the commentar itself starts quoting the Precious Garland of Nāgārjuna, and it just quotes one line of verse. And it says it reads something like that from by giving great wealth and by ethics, happiness. And then Geshe-la was explaining, so if if one practices generosity, then a great wealth will result.
And if one practices practices morality, then Gela made a mention that word that was translated translated as happiness. It can be it could be in the Tibetan, it could be elaborated into happy realms or happy rebirths. Then one will be born in the happy will have a happy rebirth. Okay? And then Geshe-la is quoting — in in the text, in the root text, in the in this commentary that we have here, it only quotes the first line of this verse of Nāgārjuna, but Geshe-la is quoting the rest of the verse that Nāgārjuna wrote.
And he says Geshe-la says that from from patience, then what follows of results is is a is a good a good body, but it’s not only a good body. It’s a a beautiful body, a pleasant body to look at and so forth. Healthy. Healthy, beautiful. And then from from joyous perseverance, then Geshe-la says all all sorts of good virtuous things will come to oneself.
And every every activity that one engages in, one will be able to accomplish that So then and then the last two, concentration and wisdom that I explained. So so the uncommon result of concentration is that one attains concentration and one again, I explained is explained. So the concentration here refers to calm abiding. So having attained calm abiding, one’s mind is able to stay unwaveringly in the object of meditation. And then whatever whatever it is that one has to meditate on, one will be able to meditate on that and and and and, how to say, gain proficiency on whatever one is meditating.
And then as for wisdom, can I explain? So then if concentration was referred to as calm abiding, then wisdom, Geshe-la says, refers here to special insight. And if one has this wisdom, then whatever object of abandonment one is engaging in, then one will be able to abandon whatever affliction one is engaging with. The one will be able to abandon that affliction. This one.
And then the text the commentary goes on to say that both the nature of the six perfections and the divisions of the six perfections and and so forth, if one wants to know about all those things more extensively, then one has to look on the chapter on on the chapters on the on the on the perfections, on the six perfections, in the in the short and medium and extensive texts and and how to practice this perfection and everything. Everything is extensively explained in this text. One has if one is interested in that one, has to go and look for it in this text, text. Text. Text on the stages of the path.
And then also, as far the way to practice, the author is saying that he will be also explaining this text later on. And then now we go to another main division of the text, and then we’re going to start soon, we want to start of the the root verses itself on the fifth chapter. So this this is the second main division of this chapter, and that’s one of the main division of the text, which is the subject of the branches. This this topic has two divisions to it, has two parts to it. So one is explaining the chapters material, the chapters content, which is the fifth chapter, which is what we want to get to.
And then the last division, the second division is the name of of the chapter, which is just an explanation of the next, the very last line of this chapter, which is an explanation of the name. Then the first one, which is explain the chapters material has again two parts to it. And then the first part is called an extensive explanation of the way to practice. Okay? And the second part is the conclusion.
The conclusion as it is necessary to put into practice the meaning and not leave it as mere words. So then and then we go to the first of these two main topics, which is an extensive explanation of of the way to practice. And this, again, has four parts to it, okay? And the first one reads the method for guarding the trainings, which is guarding the mind. And then, again, was explaining generally that guarding the training is refers to guarding the guarding the mind of enlightenment and then abandoning everything that opposes that mind of enlightenment.
So then if the first one was if if if the first topic was the method for guarding the trainings, and the method for guarding the trainings is guarding the mind, then the second one is the method for guarding the mind, which is guarding mindfulness and alertness. And that’s how you guard the mind, and then you’ll be able to guard the trainings. And then the next two topics, the last two topics, so the third one, the way to train in the conduct of guarding mind by means of mindfulness and alertness. And then Geshe-la briefly added to to that idea that if one is guarding one’s mind by mindfulness and alertness, then one’s behavior, one’s physical and and verbal activities will be also guarded also. And then the fourth one and the last one, which is it’s called the the branch or the method of the excellent trainings.
So the which is an explanation how to bring about a good practice of the of the trainings of. Yeah. Yeah. Now we we are on on the on the specific material of of the chapter on guarding alertness. And so this is an outline in a way Yeah.
Of what is chapter five. Yeah. It’s outlining the the the root text. The structure of it. Yeah.
That’s Okay? It’s a it’s a very traditional way of of of setting forth the the text and divide with many divisions of divisions like it sound may sound a bit boring, but if if you if you get the divisions and you you follow it with the text, everything makes so much more sense. Plus. This one. Plus.
You are you are So then again again, so then we’ll go to the first of those topics. So the first one of the topics is So the method for guarding the trainings, which is guarding the mind. This is the first of the topics. This topic again has has three parts to it. Okay?
So the first one reads by guarding the mind one comes to guard all. Second is the reasons for that, the reasons why by guarding the mind one comes to guard all. And third, making efforts in guarding the mind. This one. Okay?
The second second is the reasons for that. The reasons why by guarding the mind, one comes to guard all. And then again, of those three parts, the first one, which is by guarding the mind when comes to guard all, that topic itself has three parts to it. Okay? The first one reads a brief presentation of the necessity for guarding one’s mind.
And the second one is the shortcomings of allowing the minds to degenerate or the guarding of one’s mind to degenerate. And the third one, the benefits the benefits of guarding one’s mind. Okay? We Then this one. Forgetting the root verses first.
This one. So then the first of those topics, which is a a brief presentation of the necessity of guarding the mind is guarding mentioned, and then we go straight into the first verse of chapter number five, guarding alertness of the Bodhisattva way of life. Okay? So the first verse reads like this according to Stephen Batchelor’s translation: Those who wish to guard their practice should very attentively guard their minds.
For those who do not guard their minds will be unable to guard their practice. Okay? So then so we’re going Geshe-la read first, he read the whole of the commentary, which is not very extensive. And then he said, no. Maybe we should go by by parts, by stages here in the commentary.
So so those who wish to protect, to guard one’s mind by not allowing and not allow one’s practice, one’s training of giving and so forth to degenerate, then those should, how to say, concentrate or or collect one’s mind very strongly, protecting protecting one’s mind from from moving or wavering to to mistaken objects or corrupted objects. And then Gela was explaining what was what I I’m translating here as mistaken or or perverted or corrupted objects of meditation, then Gela was explaining. So in the case of, for example, generosity, what is the the the corrupted object of the mind in terms of generosity is the mind of miserliness. So protecting one’s oneself, one’s mind from moving away to those corrupted objects of meditation. And then I was briefly explaining the other corrupted objects in relation to this perfection.
So then as for practice of morality of ethics or ethics is this is behavior which breaks one’s morality or vows. And then as for patience, it will be anger. And then for joyous perseverance or or joyous effort, it will be laziness. Geshe-la, because of laziness, because we we are because of laziness because of laziness, we are not able to practice Dharma. And then the last two for concentration and wisdom, is mentioning is playing first concentration.
So as for concentration or or absorption or any way you you want to have it, so it could be explained in two ways. Firstly, it’s it’s just the inability to to settle the mind in one point in the in in in the object of meditation. And then but secondly, also, if even one is even if one is able to engage the mind in the object of meditation, and if one falls into the two two folds either of excitement or of mental sinking. Okay. Which are technical terms that refers to to to to to concentration, to meditation.
And then for wisdom, that’s, how do say, the mistaken perverted object in relation to wisdom will be ignorance, which is not knowing the way things are. So then it is which is the ignorance that the the mind does not know the way of that the object exists or or abides. Does not does not know the way of existence of the object of observation. Okay? So then the text says, must protect oneself from one’s mind from moving away to those perverted objects.
And then that further says, if one cannot protect this mind from wavering or from moving away, then one will not be able will be completely unable to protect the trainings. So then is a so then it becomes clear that we have to protect our minds. If we cannot protect our minds, for example, in the case of of the perfection of giving generosity, if we do not protect our minds against that corrupted view of or corrupted mind in relation to generosity, which is miserliness. If we’re not if we’re gonna protect our our minds from from that. And that miserliness miserliness.
Miserliness. Yeah? That miserliness, which to which we are accustomed to for for from a very long time, then it comes comes about without any effort. So the and then how do you say? And then we are overcome or any how do say?
We are overpowered by this miserliness if we do if we’re not careful. So Geshe-la is giving again an example in the illustration of miserliness itself. So if for example, we have hot water and the water is too hot to drink, we we do not put it away. We do not throw it away. We we still go on and and drink it.
This this water is too hot. And then then we do the such things because we are overpowered by miserliness. So then Geshe-la is explaining that in the same way, in relation to other objects, because we are so used to this mind of miserliness, miserliness, then we we immediately engage in whatever it is necessary or unnecessary being overpowered by this mind of miserliness. So so then so then we must we must guard our minds against this miserliness. We must we must recognize that mind that mind of miserliness.
And when we when it comes, we must we must recognize it, and we must how do you say? Knowing that it is bad, that miserliness miserliness is not good, we we we then have to abandon. From all the people that come to Buddha house, Geshe-la is saying that he is the one who probably has more the most miserliness. Because he’s he’s saying that when people come to Buddha house, there’s some people who stay here, and then they they have these cookies and biscuits, and and they they put them away because they don’t want the cookies and biscuits. And then he sees sees the cookies and biscuits, and he thinks, oh, that’s very good, and he takes it for himself.
He says he does that. Because he was overpowered by by this miserliness, he did that. And then but there’s not no need to do that. It’s not absolutely unnecessary. But but because of that, he he did it, but still is is meaningless.
So then and not only and then explain not only but in relation to all the six perfections, we have to to understand which are those those corrupted corrupted views of of the six perfections as as as it is with general generalizing and miserliness and all the other ones. And then we have to to guard our minds from them. And when and we have to know when they come about in our minds, each one of them. And then now we go to the second of those topics that were mentioned before, which is the shortcomings of allowing the mind to degenerate. Okay?
It is mentioned, and we go straight to the second verse of the root text, which reads, in this world, unsubdued and crazy elephants are incapable of causing such harms as the miseries of the deepest hell, which can be caused by the unleashed elephant of of the mind of mind. Unleashed. Unleashed. Unleashed. Take a Let go.
So then, it’s it’s it’s briefly explaining on top of the on on the root verse that an elephant will not be able to cause as much harm as a mind that was unguarded. So then if we if we how do you say? If we if we just allow our minds to do whatever it is that they want to do, it wants to do, then we will engage in many non virtuous things, many negativities, and then we will be harmed. So then so then I say, so then even even a crazy elephant, the most that he could do to us was is kill us. But even though he he can he can kill us, he cannot send us to hell.
Now this this this mind of ours, if we leave it unguarded, then it can it can it can it can make us be born in hell, and it can destroy our possibilities of gaining lasting happiness, lasting happiness of. So then, again, was was reading the the commentary itself, and it says again, so then this elephant of the mind, which wanders off to this mistaken corrupted object of observation, then can send us can cause us the harm of the of of the hell realms. But such harm, the the ordinary elephants which are crazy and and and wild cannot cannot cause such harm. So because of that, we have to put effort in protecting our minds, in guarding our minds. Yeah.
Yeah.