Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. A recurring question runs through this 44-minute commentary by Geshe Pema Tsering: when is anger ever justified? He opens by completing Tsongkhapa’s wishful prayers, guiding students through dedicating all accumulated merit — across this life and future lives — toward renunciation, bodhicitta, and precious human rebirth. The main focus is verses 52–63 of the Bodhisattva Deeds, on patience under attack. Geshe Pema Tsering dismantles common justifications for anger in sequence: the body-mind connection argument, protecting one’s reputation, defending followers’ faith, and the plan to accumulate wealth now and purify bad karma later. A dream analogy — happiness lasting a hundred years or a few months both vanishes on waking — drives home why neither a long nor short lifespan excuses retaliation. The session closes as verse 65 introduces the next section: maintaining patience when one’s loved ones are harmed.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 03 BD 2002 08 08.mp3
UUID: be3d2251-2a4a-4511-97b7-a3cb9c458a2e
Teacher: Geshe Pema Tsering
Collection: DB Bodhisattva Deeds (Geshe Pema Tsering)
Date: 2002-08-08
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 44.6 minutes
Words: ~3,076
Guru Lama Tsongkhapa has stated that the text which great, yeah, master has made his wish wishful prayers. So the and so the the prior the previous versus two, the one which we are going to explain here, that great master has made prayer to receive precious human rebirth in next life. And now this verse, what he says is that, so after having the moment I receive the precious human rebirth, may I not be attached to the pleasures and enjoyment of the cyclic existence and instantly have enthusiastic effort to cultivate the renunciation and bodhicitta in order to attain liberation and enlightenment. So the the text from great master Tsongkhapa has made numbers of wishful prayers for himself. He didn’t need those wishful prayers because, yeah, himself he didn’t need those prayers, but he composed that because so it’s teaching us what and how to make the wishful prayers.
And and and this is the text, excuse me, we recite in monasteries. So therefore so we we should dedicate all the virtues and the the merit we have attained for for yeah. To to the to become, yeah, become a cause to attain enlightenment. And for the best within this life, if not, it makes dedication, wishful prayers, once merit to to the that one shall receive a precious human rebirth in next next life. And on such a basis, within that life, may I be able to and make wish and prayers to be able to develop renunciation bodhicitta and to attain enlightenment for the sake of others.
Even if one fails next life, make all to wish to to be able to attain enlightenment after the next life. This one. Life after next life. So whatever the positive actions or merit one attain one, you cultivate through giving teachings or listening to the teachings, reading text, and any positive action one perform, Wish and dedicate those prayers to attain enlightenment for the sake of motherly sentient beings, and also to wish to attain continuous precious human rebirth, the precious human rebirth. And through on such basis, one on and through on such basis of precious human rebirth, one attains enlightenment or liberation.
So one can dedicate all the entire virtues of oneself as well as other sentient beings and other great practitioners who are in the five paths. To dedicate all the merit and rejoice for their virtues and dedicate that I shall attain through the power of all those positive actions. May I be able to attend, may I attain enlightenment for the sake of entire sentient beings on such mind of altruistic intention? We shall do a short meditation. Oh, yeah.
So now we for the second division, which is the maintaining patience for those who for those who brings harm or contempt to you. So and that has been explained in the next twelve verses. So could be, I think, verse fifty-two. Since my mind is not physical in form. Page seventy one. Yep.
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve till sixty three. And what it means is that whenever one receives harm from others, one should not retaliate or take action. Instead, to maintain patience because if instead one should guide one’s mind, control one’s mind, and by controlling one’s mind, maintaining maintaining one’s mind to be undisturbed, then by guiding one’s mind, no matter how much harm it comes, it nothing can harm or bring yeah, disturb one’s mind if one guard your mind. Because the mind is not a form. It’s formless.
Therefore it cannot be harmed if it is well looked after or controlled. If it has a form or if it is a form, then the weapons sticks, weapons like sticks, so forth can harm it. Since it is not a form it’s not a form, then it it is a formless. It cannot be harmed if one subdue or control one’s mind flow. So and if asked, because one’s mind and the body has a strong connection and when mind so attached to the body and the body receives the harm through weapons like sticks and so forth.
If one says that it is suitable and it is okay to be angry or to be angry when my body, when I receive harm to it to my body because my body and my mind has a strong connection. Because when because of this strong connection and the weapons and so forth attacks or hurts my body and so due to this it is okay because of the strong connection and relation it is okay for me to be angry to the person. If one says like this, then this is not a valid statement just by saying there’s a strong connection and mind being disturbed or angry because of the body received the harm or blow. Because if you say so, then if somebody used the harsh words, hurt one’s mind by saying harsh words and complaints and criticisms. Body never receives any harm, whereas the mind receives the harm and gets angry and disturbed.
And if you put the relation of the mind and the body for the reason to get angry, then when the harsh words and speech comes and your mind get hurt and disturbed, but your body never gets angry or annoyed because it didn’t receive any hurt. So likewise, one should not be angry by saying when one’s body receives the harm or so forth. So if one maintains the patient and control one’s mind, So like the criticisms, the harsh speech and so forth cannot harm one’s body. And one’s mind can also be undisturbed and unharmed if one maintains huge patience control one’s mind. Because when you receive criticism and so forth, if one maintains patience, the criticisms and harsh words and so forth cannot be harmed, this body, this mind, and it can harm in this life as well as it won’t it can’t And by maintaining patience, that criticism or complaints cannot harm your cannot will cannot harm you and your mind in any ways.
It can’t harm in this life neither this life nor next life. It cannot reduce your virtuous or practices. So therefore, it is appropriate to maintain patience for any harms or any cause. And if one says no, but the the harsh words and criticism complaints will harm in this life because but all this, it will destroy my reputation, and it and it will destroy my yeah, they will destroy my happiness, my enjoyments, my incomes, or my jobs, so forth, by receiving complaints and so forth. And it harms my reputation, etcetera.
So therefore, it is suitable or appropriate to get disturbed or angry. If one says so, it’s not a good reason or one should still not get disturbed or angry because of one’s reputation or one’s enjoyments, the wealth or incomes. Because whether the person criticizes you or complains you or not, your possessions and so forth always will never be with you all the time. Whether you receive complaint or not, one will still lose all the possession and so forth at the end. There is no way that you can keep your possession for all the time.
Eventually it will. One day you have to give up everything. You have to leave all the possessions. So therefore, it is not okay or it is not appropriate to get angry towards the harms or for the criticisms one receives. So therefore, it is not therefore, one should not get angry and disturbed because because by by getting angry and disturbed, then one instead of getting a profit or a gain by thinking I should keep my reputation and should not challenge for those criticism and complaints because if I do not challenge, it will hurt for my income, my possessions, my reputation, so forth.
And by doing so, then instead of help, one receives loss because whether one receives complaints or not, eventually one has to leave everything at the end, and one sooner or later or one day. By getting angry to protect all those possessions, reputation and so forth, if one gets angry, the last is you have to leave all the possessions one day. And additional to that, instead of having those, one cultivates the numbers of bad karma or non virtuous actions. And as the time comes, one leaves all the possessions and all you have left is a bad karma or imprint, bad imprints of the negativities on one’s continuum and that will bring suffering in future. So therefore, it is not a good reason and not appropriate to get angry on harms or losing one’s possessions and so forth because instead of giving help or benefit, it will bring harm.
So should not retaliate and get disturbed or angry to the harms. So, therefore, so once you’re not get disturbed or angry to any harm, even if you know that you are going to die in a couple of days’ time, well, I’m going to die soon, I better take revenge or get angry and do something back because I won’t have a time. But thinking that you only have two days left. And so it doesn’t matter how many days you have left, even if two days should not still not retaliate or get angry because by doing so, you cultivate numbers of non virtuous and that will be with you all the time and then brings its causes and harms. And should not get angry at any time and all the time and not just get disturbed or angry.
Also, you know, should not hold any grudge by saying, you know, he and she caused me harm such and such time and and calling it and clinging on that harm forever and want you know, one day I will do something bad. Should not hold any grudge on any harms. So, yeah, I want to still mention patience and should not have attachment towards one’s relatives and close and dear ones and and have anger towards the enemies, so forth, should not do so because but yeah. It doesn’t matter how long you stay. If you if you have a long long life span of hundred years or you have a few months life span left, doesn’t matter in all the time.
Whether you have long or short life, still should not get angry or hold the anger towards the enemy and attach it to the relatives and so forth. Because it is for sure, no matter how long we have remained for our lifespan, but it is for sure for everyone at the end has to go through the suffering of death. At that time, then one will eventually leave everything at the time of death. And if one has developed anger and so forth, and those bad karma or negative actions will bring sufferings. So therefore, whether it’s a long run or a long lifespan or a short months remain, know, should not have any angry at all in terms of saying for the pleasure by saying, Well, I should maintain because I have a long life span and there’s still a long way to go.
I should get angry and challenge for all these criticisms because I have a long run to enjoy happiness, of worldly happiness for this many years left. So it is not okay to say because, for example, it’s like saying, when someone has had enjoyed happiness in the dream who has spent one hundred years in the dream and enjoy all this happiness of one hundred years in one dream, and somebody who has a dream and had enjoyed for the few months of life span in the dream. So there are two types. One is same dream, but one has the enjoyment of one hundred years and one has few months. But at the moment they get up awake, both the happiness of the hundred years dream and few months dreams is both are gone.
And at the time of death, none of those pleasures will be helpful or will help at the time of death. Likewise, whether you have hundred years old and you have the happiness of hundred years lifespan, unhappiness of a few months lifespan, at the time of the death, both of them, both of the happiness are hope so useless or wouldn’t be of any help. So therefore, just by considering of long life span or short life span as excuses and then that should be attached to my relatives and get angry to enemies and so forth. It’s not appropriate. You should not have any attachment as well towards the relatives and anger towards the enemies.
So they should not get attached towards the enjoyments and the wealth and in terms of cultivating numbers of wealth and so forth, doing lots of activities. And doesn’t matter even if I get angry or collect the non virtuous actions. It doesn’t matter, and I can still be angry and earn lots of money and so forth because by doing so, I will have a long life span. And in future, you know, I have all this wealth and so forth. And then I started when I’m rich, then I will start my practices, you know, and purify all the non virtuous actions through applying the doing the confession or purification practice by applying four antidotes and making offerings and so forth.
And and if yep, so forth. If one says so, and still not it’s still not a perfect thing to do because by becoming rich and then enjoying all those enjoyment and so forth, it’s because by doing so, one is making one is using whole good karmas or positive actions one have cultivated in the past and using all the virtues within this life. And by using so, sooner or later that will come into into exhaustion. And all it remains is all the hard work you have done and all the negative actions or non virtuous actions you have cultivated while striving and while collecting all the wealth. Only the negative actions will remain.
And in future, you have no virtues left because all the virtues you have cultivated has been used and exhaust now and only negative actions or non virtues left. And that will cause harm. So therefore, should not think that way, but thinking in future, I’ll do the purification prayers and so forth. That doesn’t work either. And so, yeah, it still goes that one should not get angry or retaliate and protecting one’s reputation and so forth and and, you know, retaliating the person’s harm for the person’s harm by saying, even if one is not after one’s wealth and possessions, but in order to protect one’s reputation by saying, well, it is okay for me to challenge and for the criticism or complaints because if I accept those and let person do anything, then it will cause harm for the persons who have a faith and devotion and respect in me.
So in order to protect their respect, faith, and devotion in me, I should criticize, challenge the criticism and retaliate to the person. By doing so, then then then it is not a good excuse to say so because so if that is so important by thinking that you will lose your respect from your dear ones your followers. Then you should also think about the other person as well because the other person is like yourself, in that he or she still has lots of people respecting them and have huge faith and devotion and trusting the person by other people. So by retaliating or complaining or challenging the person, he or she will lose his people. So it is the same.
So therefore, it is still therefore, one should not take revenge and anger to the person or to to the harm. So yes. Yeah. So therefore, it is still the same that that one should not be angry to the person who who criticize you or complain you by saying that by accepting or not challenging the person that it will hurt my reputation and my and people to lose my respect, lose the others respect in me and so forth. Because if that is the reason, then you should be you should get angry at the other person — yet you should develop anger or be angry at the person who is complaining about the A person. So you are C now, and the A person, because the B person complains about the A person,, and the A person is like yourself, he or she, the A person loses all the reputation and respect from his or her dear ones or who trust them.
So therefore, that’s still the same because you are losing your respect and so forth and other person’s losing the same, but you should you are not getting angry to the person. They’re both the same. The person is like yourself. Therefore so in the name of one’s respect and so forth, then you should not be angry at all. And then now we’re to the third division, which is that should should mention maintaining patience when one’s relatives or close ones receive harm.
And which is explained in the next two verse verses that it could be. Supposed to be sixty-four, but doesn’t look right at all. Is anyone is following? Can you see? Sixty five.
Does that say in friends. Sixty sixty five. Who enjoy my speech or master’s respected friends? Yep. Sixty five and sixty six.
I was very close. Yeah. Sorry, because I’m not really reading English one enough. Just to show you the numbers. Sorry.
Not two. It’s a twelve. Next twelve verses. So starting from sixty-five to seventy-six, I guess. Yep.
So the the meaning is that if one says, should not they should not get angry when I receive the but it is suitable to get angry to the person who criticizes or destroys, who criticizes or complains about the Triple Gem — as an object of offense by saying, if one says so, they’re still not should still not get angry and disturbed by saying the person who has criticized and destroyed the the stupas and the sacred objects