Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. A vivid story about three people unknowingly drinking poison anchors Geshe Pema Tsering’s 45-minute commentary on the four opponent powers for purifying negative karma. He opens by challenging the assumption that we are basically “good people,” arguing that countless past lives as animals and hell beings — tigers, leopards, fish — have left us deeply habituated to negativity. He then walks through each opponent power in sequence: taking refuge and generating bodhicitta as the basis; cultivating genuine regret (illustrated by the poison story); resolving not to repeat the action — even if only for a few minutes; and applying a virtuous antidote. A notable warning cautions against letting purification collapse into self-condemning guilt, which reinforces self-grasping rather than freeing the mind. Q&A covers the distinction between purifying and fully abandoning an action, and whether non-Buddhists can use the same method.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 10 DP 2004 02 17.mp3
UUID: fa2dcd38-3726-4d17-828a-d3278e921e1e
Teacher: Geshe Pema Tsering
Collection: DB Establishing a Daily Practice (Geshe Pema Tsering)
Date: 2004-02-17
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 45.0 minutes
Words: ~4,210
K. The other thing is that not only do we think that we don’t do many negative things and we’re really good people, but then we also think that we do lots of really good things like we get up in the morning and meditate. And we come to class and listen to teachings on the graduated path and what it is that we need to do. So not only do we not do many negative things, but we do a lot of positive things. We have this idea about being really good people.
So we have this idea about being good people, and we don’t even take into consideration the fact that, okay, we may have a human rebirth this time around and we must have done something positive to get reborn in this situation with this kind of comfort and this kind of ability to practice positive actions. But this is one lifetime and we’ve existed since since beginningless time, since since time without beginning. So this means that we have taken countless rebirths, countless rebirth after rebirth after rebirth, and the majority of those haven’t been as humans or gods. The majority of those have been in the lower realms. The majority of our experiences of being reborn have been as a hell being or as a spirit or as an animal.
Now if we look at these different types of rebirth, if we look at those different types of experience in those lifetimes, there isn’t any opportunity to develop or there isn’t very much opportunity to develop virtue. Most of the things that beings in these existences do are negative. We can see that, okay, maybe I haven’t killed anyone in this lifetime. Maybe I haven’t been stealing or harming anyone in this lifetime. But what what about the time that I was a fish and spent all my time eating small fish?
Or what about the time that I was a cat and kept thinking about food for all those years as a cat, thinking about how to get food or where to sleep or my own comfort and had intense desire in that way. What about the times that I was born as a leopard or a tiger or a what’s the other one? Leopard, tiger, lion. Countless numbers of animal. When you think about it, how many animals does a leopard or a tiger eat in a lifetime?
How many other beings do they kill in a lifetime? And that wasn’t just one lifetime. There’s several, like, there could have been countless lifetimes leopard or a tiger where you’re just continually killing things. Or or what about in in other existences where you’re not you’re focused on pride all the time. So any of these experiences that we’ve had, we’ve been creating negative karma.
We’ve been doing horrible things in our past experiences. So we shouldn’t be, arrogant thinking that we haven’t done many negative things, just because we haven’t done many negative extremely negative things in this lifetime. So even though even if we don’t think about the negative things that we’ve done in past lives, if we concentrate on this life and realize that even when we’re doing something that we consider to be incredibly virtuous or incredibly, we’re very proud of ourselves for doing, like for meditating. Watch how many thoughts come up in our mind when we’re meditating that are something about what we need or what we want. And how many thoughts come up in your mind when you’re meditating, oh, I could do with that or I need that or I If I did that, then that would make That would be good.
How many thoughts of like desirous thoughts come up in your mind when you’re meditating? So even when you’re doing something, even when we’re doing something very virtuous, we create negativity. You don’t have to go out and try and do something negative, to try to to to do a negative action. All you have to do is sit there and it happens So even when we’re doing positive actions, we’re doing negative actions along with positive actions. So it’s easy for us to do negative actions and in actual fact, we have to put in a lot of effort to do positive actions.
And now the reason that we don’t need to put in any effort to do negative actions and we have to put in a lot of effort to do positive actions is that we’re incredibly habituated towards doing negative actions. Our minds are easily go towards doing negative actions because since beginningless time, we’ve had this idea of doing negative actions of trying to look after the self. So it becomes very easy for us. We have to break that habit. And in order to break that habit, we have to put in a lot of work.
Okay, so in order to No, so from what we can understand from all of that is that we really need to purify our negative actions. We really need to try and work at getting rid of the negative actions so we don’t have to experience their results in the form of suffering. Now what we need to do in order to get rid of those negative actions or to purify those negative actions is to use what are called the four opponent powers in order to purify. The first of the four opponent powers is what’s called basis or recognition. Now the basis for our negative action, basis for our purification, sorry, is usually a focus point like the Tathāgata or the Three Jewels or something similar like that, but Three Jewels is probably the best.
And what we need to do is then think, okay, I’ve done something very negative in order for me not to experience that results of that negativity, please protect me from experiencing the results of that negativity. And so this is what the idea of refuge, where the idea of refuge comes about. So another way of saying it could be, please give me refuge from experiencing the results of that negativity. So through having thought this, we think, okay, I did something negative, I don’t wanna experience the results of that negativity because I realize the results of that negativity will be suffering and I’m trying to find a way out of suffering. So please give me refuge from experiencing the results of that action.
And with that as our understanding, we develop the idea going for refuge, and that acts as like the basis for our purification. Okay, so But we shouldn’t just think about refuge, we should also think about bodhicitta. So this means that we should have the idea, I’ve done something negative and have to experience the results of that negativity in terms, and if I do not purify, will have to experience the results of that negativity in terms of suffering. But just like I’ve done something negative and done many negative things since beginningless time, all sentient beings have done many negative things that they’ll have to experience the results of in the form of suffering. So therefore, grant us refuge from experiencing the results of that negativity.
Then we think, how do we develop? How does that happen? How can we be able to grant all sentient beings refuge from experiencing the results of that suffering? And the way that we do this is we first of all have to become Buddhas ourselves. So we think, may I be able to become a Buddha in order to give sentient beings refuge from experiencing the results of their sufferings.
So in this way, we have the idea of refuge for ourselves and then extended that out to sentient beings and develop motivation of bodhicitta in terms of when we’re going through the purification process. So then after we’ve had this idea of may our sentient beings be given refuge from experiencing the results of their actions, then we can think please bless me to be able to purify this negative action and achieve Buddhahood, and please bless all sentient beings to purify their negativities so that they don’t have to experience the results of their actions. Now the reason that this is called the basis for the opponent powers is not only because we’re using the Three Jewels as our place to go for refuge and now using sentient beings as the reason for us to develop bodhicitta. There is also because any negativity that we would have done since beginningless time until now would have taken it as its base or would have taken as its object, either Buddhas or sentient beings. So it means that anything that we any any person that we may have harmed or any negativity that we would have done would have been directed towards Buddhas, directed towards sentient beings, or directed towards ourselves.
And because we’re sentient being, then we can say that it’s towards Buddhas or sentient beings. So because Buddhas and sentient beings have been the base or the object of our negative action, then by developing refuge and bodhicitta in our purification practice, then we are able to focus on the basis for our negative actions, to focus on the object of our negative actions, and to try and purify means of purify that basis by means of refuge and bodhicitta. So this basis, the base of this basis or the key to this basis is refuge and bodhicitta. Refuge and bodhicitta are very important. Refuge and bodhicitta are incredible in their scope, amazing in their power, and the clarity that they can give us, they’re also incredibly powerful.
If we don’t have refuge, then we can’t say that we’re Buddhist. If we’re not trying to develop bodhicitta, then we can’t say that we’re Mahāyāna Buddhist. So these two things are the basis for the way that we are defining ourselves, and therefore they’re incredibly important. And the second power or second opponent power that we need to develop in order to purify properly is the power of regret. Now, regret is something that we need to meditate on, we need to think about a lot.
We need to think about the negative actions that we’ve done and how they will pan out in terms of hurting other people, in terms of causing us pain in the future, and we need to think about it again and again and again until this strong idea of regret develops in our mind that we think, oh no, that was really bad what I did. It was really negative thing, I’m gonna have to experience negative results of suffering and we should keep focusing on that until we can feel a really strong sense of regret for the actions that we’ve done in this lifetime and since beginningless time. So we should concentrate on that sense of regret. And based on that sense of regret, we can go on to other things. But sense of regret should be like a real understanding that we’ve done something really bad.
Now the example that’s usually given to describe what the sense of regret should be like is that if three people were drinking something and they didn’t know what was in the drink, but after drinking it, then the first there’s like so there’s Geshe-la said there was him and me and Justin. Yeah? And we’re all having a drink. And Geshe-la starts drinking first, I drink second, and Justin drinks third. Right?
And Geshe-la’s the first one to drink. So after he’s drunk a little bit and he he just falls over, gets really sick and dies. Right? And so he said, what you two are experiencing is regret. Alright?
You think, I really wish I hadn’t drunk that drink, and you’ll do anything that you can you can do to try and stop experiencing the results of that drink, the poison that was in that drink that is is has caused him to die. So that is the kind of regret that we’re looking for is this idea of I did something really bad. I’m gonna have to experience the results of it, and I’ve gotta find any way I can to stop me experiencing the results of it. And so once we’ve developed that sense of regret, the next opponent power which is here, the opponent power of restraint or resolution is it, I’m never gonna do that again. I’m not gonna do that again.
That’s really a bad thing to do. And that once we’ve developed that really strong sense of regret, the idea I’m never gonna do that again is pretty simple to develop. It comes straight afterwards. It’s not something we need to work at very hard. So after developing after going for refuge and developing bodhicitta, which is our basis for the base the opponent power of the base from where we start the purification process, Then developing a sense of regret and then instantly after the sense of regret comes the understanding of restraint or resolution to not do that action again or for a certain amount of time.
Then with the fourth thing then we need to apply an antidote. So applying the antidote is to do some kind of dharmic action or positive virtuous action that will act as an antidote to the negative actions that we’ve done. So we may be studying the graduated path, we may meditate on the graduated path, we may do any kind of meditation and see that as an antidote to the negative actions that we’ve done in the past. So in this way, we’ve done all of the opponent powers and the positive action that we then do after developing the sense of regret becomes an antidote, for the negative actions that we have done in the past. The other thing that we can have as an antidote that is okay, in order to purify the negative actions I’ve done, I’m not gonna do that action ever again.
So we can have ever again, right? And we can have this idea of I’m not gonna do any of the ten non virtuous actions ever again because that’s the ultimate thing that we need to try and the ultimate ethical situation we need to try and arrive at. But since this is very, very difficult, then we may have the idea, okay, that negative action that I’ve done before, at the best we can think, I’m not gonna do that for the rest of this lifetime. And if we can’t conceive that in our head, if that we think that that’s not possible, it’s not gonna happen, and we can maybe think for a couple of years. If we can’t do it for a couple of years, then we can do it for a year to think, I’m not gonna do that negative action for a year.
We can’t manage a year, perhaps a month, not a month, maybe a week. If not a week, a day. If not a day, a couple of hours. And if we can’t even manage that, even if we have the idea, I’m not gonna do that negative action for a couple of minutes, then we’re still planting the seeds for discipline in our mind. I’m still developing the habit of discipline.
So we can finish there. So, yeah, if anyone has questions. You’re about regret or purification? Purification. The the perfection of purification and then ordinary purification.
Is that? Yeah. Okay, Okay. So, there’s a difference between purifying an action and getting completely rid of the consequences of the action and the seeds for that action. Okay?
If you were to How strong the purification of an action is, it depends on how strong your opponent powers are. So how strong your sense of refuge in bodhicitta is, how strong the sense of regret is, how strong all those, the four opponent powers are, right? That depends on how strong the purification is, yeah. If someone has recognized emptiness directly, has recognized the nature of reality directly, yeah, then they recognize that there is no self to grasp at. And because they recognize there’s no self to grasp at, then they don’t do any negative actions based on that sense of self, yeah?
And that means that when they purify an action, they not only purify the action, but they completely get rid of, it’s called abandoning the negative action. So it’s not purifying, it’s abandoning. So that’s where the difference is. That’s where I think they’ve translated it different. Purifying the negative action means that you get rid of the consequences of that action.
Abandoning the negative action means you get rid of the consequences of that action and you eliminate the seed or the habit towards acting out that negative action in your mind stream. So not only are you getting rid of the negativity by purifying, but you’re abandoning the habit or the seed in the mind stream that could cause you to behave in that way again because you’ve recognized selflessness and therefore, you’re not going to perform any negative actions. Okay, Geshe said that he thinks that there’s something else he should say in terms of something that he recognizes could be a danger in the process of purification or doing the purification meditation. He said that there may be a danger that we think, I’ve done really bad things. I’m a really bad person.
And then mind may become smaller and smaller and smaller and smaller. And then we may start to practice Dharma with this idea of, I’m a bad person and I need to do something good because otherwise, I’m in trouble. Right? And we may we may start practicing with that idea. That doesn’t help us.
That doesn’t do anything. It’s no it’s not beneficial. Starting off with the idea that I’m a bad person. I need to do something. Otherwise, I’m in big trouble, is not the best way to practice Dharma.
Because the best way to practice Dharma is with a a broad mind, a wide mind, with a happy mind. Yeah? So you shouldn’t be concentrating on the fact I did bad things. I’m a bad person, I did bad things because that’s all self grasping. Alright?
The idea of I’m a bad person, I need to do something to make myself better is all self grasping. It’s all holding on to this idea of self really tightly and we don’t want to make our purification practice a reason for us to hold on to self really tightly, right? So we can think, okay, I’ve done bad things but hey, I have the opportunity to purify them. How great is that? Yeah.
And by focusing on that and focusing on bodhicitta, make our mind as wide as we can, as open as we can, as flexible as we can. And in this way, when we do Dharma practice, we’re doing it with a happy mind and we’re really, like, really excited or happy. Sorry. Sorry is the wrong word. Very happy about being able to practice.
Mhmm. Mhmm. Mhmm. The panic. Yeah.
Okay. Okay. Okay. Right. Now, guess I said, no, no.
The the example is fine. It’s just that you have to take it one step further. You’re not thinking, oh, no. I’ve I’ve actually taken it and there’s no way out. I don’t have a cure.
I’m gonna die. You think, oh, wait a minute, there is a cure I can purify, right? So it’s like you’ve taken the poison, you think you have that intense sense of regret, but wait a minute, there’s an antidote. Yes? So then you practice the antidote.
So you practice antidote with the idea of, oh, this is saving. This practicing the antidote is what’s gonna save me from experiencing the results of drinking poison. So you’re not left in the lurch. So the idea is that Getting agitated isn’t necessarily a bad thing in this instance because if you’re getting agitated or frightened by the things that you’ve done and how those results will come about, then that shows that it’s really affecting that you’re actually getting somewhere with your sense regret. But then the thing is it’s like, okay, how do I stop this happening?
Right? And you have the method to stop that happening. You have the means to stop that happening. And so then you think that instead of staying in an agitated state, go, okay, I’ll do what I can to stop that situation happening. Okay.
Yes. I can’t hear a word you’re saying. Yeah. K. Hang on one one one sec.
It’s if you go up here. Yeah. Well done. Yeah. Now I can hear you.
Uh-huh. About okay. Okay. So so Geshe said that if someone is has a a different you can’t there’s no way you can say if someone is not a Buddhist, they can’t purify negative actions. It’s just not a logical thing to say.
But if someone has a religion, then they could use any base that they have, anything that they have faith in as a base instead of having the three because the Three Jewels or the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha is the Buddhist base. Yeah? So any base that they take, anything that they believe in, if they focus on that and then develop a sense of regret and a sense of restraint and then the idea of applying some antidote, then they can do that. I said, but what about if people don’t have any religion? And Geshe-la said, if they don’t have any religion or any like belief, then they won’t know what’s right and wrong.
And I said, there’s some people that aren’t Christian or anything like that and they still have an idea of right and wrong. He said, Anytime someone has an idea of right and wrong, then they have a religion. System. So whatever is the basis for that belief system, then they look at that and use that as the basis for their They use that as the basis and then they develop a sense of regret. Says that he thinks that all of the different religions have some kind of sense of refuge in them.
They have this idea of going to for refuge too whether it’s Jesus or God or whether it’s Allah or whether it’s one of the Hindu deities. There is this idea of of going for refuge of of seeking protection or understanding that will stop them from experiencing negativities. Yeah? In some way or another, they all have that idea of refuge, of of seeking refuge. But it’s it’s unique to the Buddhist is the objective of refuge is the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha.
So if someone has a So anyone who has a belief system has a sense of, refuge in something, but the the refuge in the Three Jewels is unique to Buddhist faith or Buddhist belief. There’s someone behind you, I think. In the corner. Okay. It’s not even possible for Buddhas to get rid of our, our negativities.
If it was possible for the Buddhas to get rid of our negativities, they would have done it already out of their compassion. Yeah. So it’s it’s every single individual has to purify their own negativities and we can’t purify anyone anyone else’s negativities. It’s very difficult to do that. There is a famous quote where the Buddha said, I can’t wash away your negativities or your sins with water.
I’ve shown you the way to do it, but you need to do it yourselves. So if the Buddha can’t do it, then it’s impossible for us to be able to do it. So each individual has to develop regret and purify their own negativities. If we become a Buddha, then we can become a base for people to develop their to get rid of their negativities, but we can’t ever do it for them. So so in this way, Buddha didn’t say, I can get rid of your your negativities for you.
He said, this is what I did. This is the path I followed and this is the end that I came to. This is a result which is is Buddhahood from practicing this path. I can’t walk the path for you. I can’t develop the realizations for you.
You I can only show you how to do it, and then you have to do it yourselves. Is that okay? So what is Okay. So in praying for other people, we help them in terms of we are helping asking to be a benefit to them. We’re asking to be able to help them.
And even though we may be able to benefit them in the short term, we can’t get rid of their negativities for them. So we can benefit them in a temporary way by praying for them to get over problems or seeking to help them in one way. And we benefit ourselves by praying for others as well because we’re doing a virtuous action that’s, help focusing on