Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 34-minute session, Geshe Pema Tsering opens with a candid admission: bodhicitta has not yet arisen spontaneously in him despite years of effort — proof that previous-life cultivation determines how quickly it ripens now. He presses the urgency of the present opportunity, drawing on the Kadampa masters’ instruction to look at one’s body to understand the past and at one’s mind to gauge where one is headed. A famine story — a man eats a large piece of meat alone so he gains the strength to find food for everyone — illustrates why bodhicitta amplifies every practice, from a single mala of mantra to the highest tantric path. Geshe-la then distinguishes effortful from spontaneous bodhicitta, aspiring from engaging bodhicitta, and maps four stages of bodhicitta across the Mahāyāna path. The session closes the sevenfold cause-and-effect method and previews Śāntideva’s approach of equalizing and exchanging self and others, the topic for the following class.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 02 CAI 2002 08 06.mp3
UUID: 71f59b0a-c999-4eea-871d-e50cbe1ba768
Teacher: Geshe Pema Tsering
Collection: Cultivating the altruistic intention (Geshe Pema Tsering)
Date: 2002-08-06
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 34.5 minutes
Words: ~2,198
You know, heard the teachings. Therefore, our imprints are ripe when we meet with the teachings again. But it is probably sure, for myself I can say for myself that it’s guaranteed that I have never had that I haven’t done any strong meditation on on on bodhicitta so forth in my previous life because no matter how because because bodhicitta is still not coming in my life even though how how much heart I meditate or cultivate it cultivate it, it’s still not coming. Because if you have cultivated very strongly, the previous life of rebirth, then you have certain imprints of blessings left, and by doing it again, it ripens and should should develop it quickly, but it’s not coming at this stage. And so we failed to develop that in our previous rebirth.
And so and it is a special opportunity we have now to do it because in future in the next rebirth, probably be very difficult because because to in order to receive a proper receive the precious human rebirth, you know, one needs to have either the foundations, which is to have the, you know, very pure ethical discipline as a basis and which is accompanied by the practices of six perfections, and then conclude with the proper wishful prayers with the consciousness of all these three, and one will take receive the precious human rebirth in the next life. But whether you have the pure ethical basis or not, we will know individually. And then this practice of six perfections, you know your practice, so it is it is really hard to say that we will receive the precious human rebirth in next life. So therefore, in such context, the great Kadampa masters have said, look into your body now, what you have done in the past, just what you have done in the past, and look into your mind where you will go in future, in next life. Because you can understand in your mind, if your mind is full of non virtuous and so forth, and you can understand what are the reason or consequences, if your mind has been in the positive and been led and maintained a very ethical, disciplined life and had the good practice of six perfections and good prayer virtues, then one will have a good rebirth precious and rebirth.
So therefore, the great masters say, you know, I repeat that what you know, look into your body right now, that what you have done in the past and and look into your mind where you will go in the future or in next. So therefore, it is the best opportunity and best time we have ever had. It is really important and it’s good to put heart and take some effort and strongly try to cultivate the bodhicitta, try to develop it. If one’s able to develop or generate the bodhicitta, then that’s good. And then and all the benefits which we have discussed in the earlier classes, you will receive those benefits.
So Right. Therefore, the bodhicitta is very important. If one receive develop the bodhicitta and gain the bodhicitta, then one will receive all the benefits mentioned earlier and one will be able to attain any achievements there are easily because and so there is a story that once in one place or the region that that people go through huge starvation, huge starvation and no food, of course. And and during that period, like, you know, with the people and and particularly one family, there are few people, many people, and one of the person, you know, found a big lump of meat or like a porterhouse, you know, and like a big cow leg or a lamb leg or something, big one. And he found it and he thought about it how to make use of that now.
But people are dying, about to die now with starvation and thinking, well, if I divide it, you know, and then not much portion each people will get, you know, a little bit and that won’t be enough to to quench their hunger, you know, relief from the hunger. So probably it’s better not to give to anyone. Instead I will eat it, you know, so that it can feed me and will leave something for me and then I can travel and look for food and bring lots of food back to the people which can help. So which was right and he did it. So he ate and before he walked and he ate and looked for food and then he was able to found huge amount of food because he’s fit now.
So he found he bring lots of food back to the place and then which will, you know, relieve entire starvation. So likewise, likewise, the bodhicitta is like that big meat he found. So by finding that meat he ate and he was able to help entire beings with free from the suffering. So likewise, if one has bodhicitta, then all the achievements one can benefit both self and others and attain any qualities they are to attain. So bodhicitta is very, very necessary and important.
And if one has bodhicitta and developed a bodhicitta, then whatever practices one performs, the bigger practices, not the highest yoga tantra practices, not so called the generation stage, completion stage, or from the lesser part you recite the one mala of six syllable mantra or do prostrations, circumambulate the stupas, so forth. Any actions one performs, if one has a bodhicitta, so every actions one perform will become a cause to attain enlightenment, and one’s practice also becomes a Mahāyāna’s practice. In terms of bodhicitta, there are set forth to be two types of bodhicitta. One bodhicitta with the cultivation or hardship and bodhicitta without any difficulty or any which means that or temporal and the permanent one or the, yep, continuous one. So some type of bodhicitta that one has to think very hard all the time to, okay, you know, to generate in one’s mind and so forth and then develop a type of bodhicitta.
That is called the bodhicitta, like, temporal, sometimes it comes, sometimes it doesn’t. And one without any hardship or any work, which means that that very strongly, forcefully, they’re within ones mind, within their within oneself. And for example, without any just by seeing one sentient being, it suddenly comes to bodhicitta. You know, you don’t need much objects or the sufferings or anything to see to produce the bodhicitta just by seeing sentient being. Beings just comes forcefully.
And that is what that way of, call it, not conventional but the ultimate bodhicitta. So therefore, so the moment one receives, develops the bodhicitta that, you know, which is within oneself forcefully, just comes without any any any difficulty, you know, naturally comes. And that is the moment one have developed a bodhicitta, and that is the moment and that one becomes the the son of the the child of the victorious ones and one which outshines Hearers and Solitary Realizers in terms of dispositions and to receive all the benefits which we have taught in the earlier classes. So at that moment, so when one received the bodhicitta and become a has developed a bodhicitta or altruistic intention, and for that such mind then, you know, supported with the tantric path, and one travels in that tantric path quickly attains enlightenment, become Buddha. Yeah.
And now there is a in terms of, yeah, in terms of divisions there are two types of bodhicitta, so called aspiring bodhicitta and the engaging bodhicitta. And in terms of so called the criteria then criteria, they’re like the texts give us some criteria, right? It’s like the criteria where one develops the aspiring bodhicitta and then called the bodhicitta. Right. And then the bodhicitta of pure Okay.
Okay. So, yeah, in terms of criteria, they call the aspiring bodhicitta, number one, bodhicitta of the engaged. And then call the bodhicitta of pure special insight, and then the fully ripened bodhicitta, the bodhicitta or the generation of mind or bodhicitta and then called the bodhicitta of abandoning the obscurations. So these are the criterion which means that the bodhicitta one receives during the part of the Mahāyāna path of accumulation and part of preparation, then those are called the aspiring bodhicitta. Right?
And then the bodhicitta of special insight, bodhicitta, the pure special insight, that bodhicitta has been developed at the criteria, which means that during the path of seeing of the Mahāyāna path, of we’re going through Mahāyāna path. And then the the fully ripened bodhicitta is being developed during the the seventh impure ground, which means from path of seeing till the eighth ground. Right? Eighth ground is the fully ripened. No.
No. No. No. No. Sorry.
Sorry. At the path of seeing no. No. At the path of seeing, one developed that the the bodhicitta pure special insight. Right?
And from the eighth ground. That’s right. From from eighth ground till the end of cyclic existence which is called the moment, the second moment one, the end of the sentient being or end of the cyclic existence which means the second moment one become the enlightenment. Right? Up till then, call from the eighth ground till the point, which is end of the end of this sentiency, not cyclic existence, end of the sentiency.
Then one develops the fully ripened bodhicitta, and bodhicitta completely abandoned the obscuration, which is the Buddhahood. There are four types of bodhicitta. So in terms of where one developed the different types of bodhicitta during the different stages through the practices, actually. Yeah. And and in terms of generating or developing a bodhicitta, there are three ways of developing a bodhicitta, which is called the king like developing a king like bodhicitta or the fisherman like bodhicitta or a boatman like bodhicitta, and developing a bodhicitta called the shepherd like bodhicitta.
So so this concludes the the the yeah, cultivating our bodhicitta through the through the practice, training one’s mind through sevenfold cause and effect instructions. And and now to the second on the the way of developing a bodhicitta, which is training one’s mind by equalizing and exchanging self and others, and that system is derived or taught from the great master Śāntideva. And so there are two ways of developing a bodhicitta. One is through equalizing and equalizing and exchanging yourself with others, which we will be going. And the previous one, there is sevenfold cause and effect instructions.
But it’s set forth even though there are two ways, they’re set forth that the the the training one’s mind through equalizing and exchanging self and others, that practice is consist of the seven point sevenfold cause and effect instructions. It is included. Whereas sevenfold a sevenfold cause and effect instruction practice does not include the the practices of equalizing and exchanging self and others. So and so we begin from that next topic, which is equalizing self and exchanging self and others in next class or next Tuesday. Right?
And yeah. I’ll try to get to you. Geshe-la said he will have a cup of tea. So or any questions? Any questions?
Just like that, it looks like everyone is free of doubts now. Is it in the book? Yeah. A worldly concerns, which we use. Yeah.
It that was the eight It’s actually they Yeah. They talk about loving-kindness, eight cardinal virtues. Uh-huh. But that’s all I see that’s made in the book. Just want I think the Geshe-la, it’s different translation terms that book that that text’s one and someone else’s.
And which mainly probably it meant the Geshe-la, actually I already explained that, which was instead of eight cardinal virtues, they mainly translated as eight worldly concerns and was explained. Because he was under the Yeah. Yeah. It’s a worldly concerns, actually. And think I shall have went through that.
worldly concerns. And but she said eight cardinal virtues. It it comes from. Uh-huh. Precious.
Yeah. Yeah. That’s right. The It is. The eight worldly concerns was in his Letter to a Friend, actually.
Is that a text called letter to a friend? It could be in a it is also Slide at the top down that left page. At the top on page five in the. Mhmm. Precious garlands.
The following benefits of meditating on this. The fourth course. Cardinal virtues that merit giving three hundred portions of food every day into three times. Cannot compare with the the merit of these eight. I’m just checking what the eight cardinals are mentioned.
They will achieve eight eight cardinal virtues. The merit of giving three hundred portions of food. Every day in three times. Every day in three times. Really?
Color. Cannot compare with this gain. Then in god and human gods will come love and the protection. Well, we’ll check the Nāgārjuna. It’s not really clear.
Nāgārjuna text and come back with it next week. Right. And that’s why. I just wrote it down. Yeah.