Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. Opening with Candrakīrti’s counterintuitive claim — that the truly wise fear rebirth as a human or god just as much as rebirth in the hells, because all of saṃsāra is equally suffering — Geshe Pema Tsering uses this 45-minute session to trace why renunciation is so hard to develop. The obstacle, he argues, is self-grasping: belief in a solidly existent “I” that needs external things keeps us striving toward saṃsāra rather than away from it, and only the understanding of selflessness dissolves that grip. The session then turns to the second of three types of patience — accepting suffering — showing how hardship can be reframed as purification and training for compassion, with vivid analogies drawn from surgery and execution, and a passage from Śāntideva naming suffering’s three good qualities. A final section addresses monks and nuns directly on practicing contentment with inferior conditions.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 17 D BC 2004 07 20.mp3
UUID: 62e203ed-bd08-4c05-899b-55b27ddc35ff
Teacher: Geshe Pema Tsering
Collection: DB How to Develop Bodhichitta (Geshe Pema Tsering)
Date: 2004-07-20
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 45.3 minutes
Words: ~3,748
In a text called the Explanation of the Fundamentals of the Middle Way, then it’s not working? Okay. Okay. Candrakīrti said that the wise fear rebirth as a human or a god as if it was rebirth as a spirit or in the hells. Now what this is referring to is the fact that they can see that the suffering that in being born as a human or a god is still being born in saṃsāra, so they have just as much fear for that eventuality as they do for being born in the lower realms because all of it is saṃsāra.
The way we look at it, not being so wise, is we think, okay, we don’t want to go to hell. We don’t want to be born in other lower realms. So we work towards being born in a positive existence, like being born as a human or being born as a god. But for those who know the true nature of saṃsāra, then their perception of it is different. So in actual fact, being reborn in one of the higher realms, that is being reborn as a human or a god, is a result of positive karma.
We can only achieve these existences if we’ve done if we’ve created the positive causes to to realize them. But because being born in saṃsāra they’re still in saṃsāra, being born in saṃsāra means that even though it may not be manifest suffering, that we’re still experiencing suffering and the suffering of change in the all pervasive suffering. And then for the people who truly understand the nature of Samsāra, then there’s no difference between being born there and being born in a lower realm where you experience the suffering of suffering that is in in one of the three lower realms. So through their wisdom, through the fact that they see that all of saṃsāra is suffering, and then they understand the the the lack of difference or that they’re exactly the same type of situation. Of course.
So the the the this means because we don’t understand the the true nature of saṃsāra, because we don’t understand the the way that being reborn in the higher realms is also an experience of suffering. It means that when we’re born in the higher realms, we grasp at things, we try and accumulate things. We have this idea of using objects, accumulating wealth, trying to accumulate things that we want, usable things. And we have this idea of working towards that and attaining those things will make us happy. And what we don’t understand is that those things as well, by their very nature, are suffering.
The very things that we think will make us happy in saṃsāra are, by their nature, suffering. They’re an instance of the truth of suffering. So this means that as much as we grasp after it, as much as we try and attract those situations or things that we want, then we’re just creating the causes for more suffering through creating the causes for saṃsāra. And this is the way that truly wise beings can perceive it. They understand that any of the experiences in the higher realms are actually suffering as well.
So they don’t necessarily grasp after that because they see all of saṃsāra as being something that they seek to obtain liberation from. Now, when we look at the lower realms, that’s the way we perceive it. We look at being reborn in a hell realm or being born as an animal or a spirit and think about the suffering that entails. In that case, we’re talking about manifest suffering or suffering that is by our definition suffering. So it’s easier for us to develop a wish not to go there, not to have to experience the results of being born in one of those realms.
But what we need to do is to understand that all of is like that. All of saṃsāra is an experience of suffering and our grasping at things in the higher realms, our grasping at a human existence or a God existence or the good things about a human existence is actually creating the causes for suffering as well. So instead of through not understanding this, we actually strive for things that we don’t recognize as suffering, but they are suffering. We’re spending a lot of our time working towards creating the causes for saṃsāra. And because we don’t understand the nature of saṃsāra, because we think that there are things in saṃsāra, these samsaric happinesses, we think that they’re worthwhile and they’re worthwhile striving after, it means that we it’s very difficult for us to develop a mind seeking to get out of saṃsāra, a mind of renunciation, or a mind striving for liberation.
It’s difficult for us to develop that way of thinking because we can’t see the faults of saṃsāra. We can’t see past what seems to us to be something positive, the happiness that seems to be. And so if we can’t get over what seems to be, if we can’t see what seems to be for what it is, we can’t develop the mind that wants to get out of what seems to be. We can’t develop this renunciation or this striving for liberation. So we need to focus on developing a mind that sees the faults of saṃsāra as opposed to being attracted to saṃsāra.
That’s difficult for us to do that. So what we need to do is to work to develop our understanding of the faults of saṃsāra. We need to work to use our logic and our intelligence and our ability to analyse the situation to see that there is nothing in Samsāra that isn’t faulty, to see that Samsāra is completely faulted. And the way that we do this is to develop our perception or our understanding of what Samsāra is. Now if we look at things then we can see that the reason that we think things are attractive in saṃsāra is because of our attachment to things in saṃsāra and our positing qualities for things in saṃsāra that they don’t actually have.
And through this process, we then develop attachments to those things and a wanting, like we strive after them. Now, if we look at that, then the reason that we’re striving after external things is because we think that there is an inherent being that needs to have these inherent things. And if you realize selflessness, we can look at it and say, okay, that’s self grasping that’s causing me to want external things and have this idea of me. So if we can develop this understanding of selflessness, then that disappears, that this idea of something a being grasping at something else disappears. But if we don’t understand that and we think that there is something external and we think that there is a solidly existent I that can be benefited from something external, then it’s very difficult for us to see how faulty Samsāra is.
But on the other hand, if we develop this understanding, if we develop the understanding that there is no I that needs no inherently existent I that needs something external to us, then the grasping at external things just disappears. It’s very easy to develop that understanding. So if we don’t realize this selflessness, if we don’t realize this and if we don’t get over our grasping itself, then we aren’t going to realize the faultiness of saṃsāra. So this creates a situation where we’re which we’re in at the moment, where we don’t see how faulty saṃsāra is, and so we keep striving after it. And that’s how we end up in saṃsāra because we keep working towards saṃsāra.
If you don’t if you don’t work for something, you don’t get it. And at the moment, we are working really hard to get saṃsāra, so that’s what we get. So what we need to do then is to to understand the selflessness of of phenomena, and that’s our way of getting rid of our grasping at phenomena and the idea of grasping from a position of of self. Right? So thinking, I need this.
If we’re able to get over that, then we’re able to if we are able to develop some understanding of that, then we’re able to develop a mind striving for liberation, striving for nirvana. If we don’t develop that, then we end up staying in Samsāra because we keep thinking that inherently existent things are worth are worth working towards. And this is very difficult for us to do because we are habituated into perceiving things as being inherently existent. But even though it’s very difficult at the beginning, if we keep working at it, it gets easier and easier. So it’s not as if it gets harder and harder.
We need to put in effort at the beginning, and then as our understanding develops, it’ll get easier and easier. And then the other thing is once we have once we have seen that for ourselves, then we can extend that out and think that all sentient beings are in exactly the same situation. So what we need to do is we need to look at the situation and start with how faulty saṃsāra is and develop a complete conviction that saṃsāra is completely faulty. And once we’ve done that, then our attachment towards saṃsāra, especially the happiness of saṃsāra that we get from being born in a human or god realm and the pleasant things that accompany that existence. If we can see that these things are faulty as well, then we’re gonna work want to work towards liberation.
So then we should think, this is my situation. I’m stuck thinking that the things of saṃsāra are good and they’re not. But it’s not just my situation. It’s a situation that all sentient beings find themselves in, where they’re striving to be happy, but they don’t know the way to make themselves happy. They don’t know what they need to do, and they don’t know how to see the faults of saṃsāra.
And so we should think then that that that’s their situation. In in order for me to be able to help them, I’m gonna understand the faults of saṃsāra and work towards my own liberation and towards Buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings. And we should meditate on that idea for a few minutes. So we were going through the six perfections and which is attracted to the the Bodhisattva practices. And we’ve gone through generosity ethics, and we’re up to patience.
And within patience, there is three different types of patience that we need to work with. And the first of these was being calm in the face of attackers, which we talked about, which is this idea that anger is never helpful. Anger always creates suffering for ourselves. When we are attacked or when we are harmed by people, retaliating with anger isn’t helpful, and we need to practice patience in that instance. Now, the second type of patience that we need to develop patience in accepting suffering.
Now what this is talking about is the fact that instead of making our mind really small and tight and miserable when we experience suffering, we have to try and keep our mind broad and open and experience suffering with as happy a mind as possible. Now, the reasons for this is that there’s no point becoming miserable about this because we’re just experiencing the results of things that we’ve done in the past. We’ve existed since beginningless time, and there is probably no sentient being that we haven’t harmed in some way during that time. So when we experience suffering, we should think, well, that’s gonna happen. I’m in Samsāra, and I’ve done all these negative things, so suffering is gonna happen.
But this gives me a chance to practice patience, so I should be pretty happy about that. Okay. I’m sorry. I got a bit confused. So there’s many different things that are involved with the patience of accepting suffering.
And one of the ways that we have to be patient with accepting suffering is in the pursuit of the practice of Dharma. So we should think that we have experienced many rebirths in the past. We’ve been through many different lifetimes, and we haven’t had the opportunity to practice Dharma. So now that we have the opportunity to practice Dharma that we should try and endure whatever suffering comes into our lifetime in the pursuit of the practice of Dharma. So we’ve wasted many different lifetimes beforehand not doing anything for the Dharma, and we’ve died many times before and haven’t used those lifetimes to do anything to move along the path.
So if we’re given the opportunity then we have to understand that that opportunity to practice is more precious than even our lives. So we should be able to withstand the sufferings that we encounter in the pursuit of practicing Dharma with patience because of the great opportunity that we have. And then we should also try and think that I’ve done all these negative things in the past, so this experience that I’m having now, if I if I approach it from the point of view that I’m I’m now able to practice Dharma, then whatever experiencing becomes positive. So so we should view things in a similar way to the way that we experience suffering in a dream and seeing that they don’t have a substantial existence and we’re able to use the suffering to make ourselves practice Dharma. If we’re suffering in a dream, then we know that that suffering isn’t something that we usually take to be that intense or that important.
We may experience suffering in a dream but we know that if we wake up then that suffering is going to be over. It’s not something that we solidify or take that seriously. Now if we’re able to practice the Dharma when we’re experiencing suffering in other situations suffering we’re experiencing, then we’re able to see that the suffering we’re experiencing doesn’t have any more significance than the suffering we may experience in a dream. And in fact, any suffering that we could experience in our lifetime can actually be used as a good cause for us to practice Dharma. For example, if we experience physical suffering, it gives us the opportunity to develop compassion for other beings who are experiencing suffering.
If we can take our suffering and think, this not only is giving me the opportunity to purify any negative actions that I may have performed in the past, but I’m also experiencing something that many other beings are experiencing. So I can use this illness as a means to develop compassion for anybody else or any other being who is in the same situation, who has to experience suffering like this or who has to die and experience these things. In actual fact, if we are using the Dharma, then practicing patience with our suffering becomes very good training. So experiencing suffering and practicing patience with regards to the experience of suffering in this lifetime is also a way that we can meditate and develop an understanding of the shortcomings of saṃsāra. Through meditating on the suffering that we’re experiencing now, any suffering that we come into contact with, then we can think that is well, think this is bad and this is the experience of suffering in the human realm.
I can only imagine that suffering in the lower realms, which is more intense and longer and more without respite. It’s more continuous. That the any suffering I may experience in the lower realms is going to be more difficult to endure than anything that I can experience now. So it’s actually good that I’m experiencing this suffering now because I’m getting to purify my negativities. I’m getting to develop this understanding, and it’s not manifesting as a a cause for being born in the lower realms.
And so an example of this is someone who instead of getting executed gets their hands chopped off. Alright? So if you just normally got your hands chopped off, you wouldn’t be that happy about it. But if getting your hands chopped off was as an exchange for being killed, then you’d be really happy about getting your hands chopped off. It wouldn’t be something that you were necessarily doing in a negative way, and you actually may be happy about the fact that you may get out of doing work or whatever as opposed to having to having to be killed.
So this is the this is the example of what what experiencing suffering in the human realm is like compared to suffering in the lower realms. Another example of what this is like is if we have to undergo surgery or other forms of medical treatment in order to stop ourselves from dying of an illness. We’re going to be really happy about the medical treatment that we’re able to undergo because it’s going to stop us dying. So even though we have to experience a lot of suffering with regards to the operations we may have to have or the medicine that we may have to take or whatever it is we need to do, we’re really happy about that. We are very joyful in our approach to that process because it gives us the opportunity not to die, even though we’re experiencing suffering.
So it’s a similar thing. So in the same way that we see that this taking, this medicine, getting these operations and all the things that we may experience in this way, The same way that we can see that that’s something that we rejoice about even though it’s a form of suffering, and we need to take that understanding into our experience of suffering in other areas of our life. Usually when we think about suffering or we experience suffering at the moment, we think of it as something that doesn’t have any positive qualities, doesn’t have anything that we feel like we want from that situation. It’s something that we would rather be rid of. But in actual fact, if we start focusing on the positive aspects of suffering, then it’s something that we don’t have to be as depressed or sad about when we experience it.
Because through suffering we can develop ourselves and we get to practice patience in all of these other things. So as it says in the Bodhicaryāvatāra, Śāntideva says, the good quality of suffering is that it removes arrogance through sorrow. And what this is referring to is the fact that if we are experiencing great sorrow, we’re experiencing great suffering or pain or we may be going to die or any of these things, then we’re not going to be walking around thinking how good we are at that stage. We’re not going to be engaging in intense self congratulation or arrogance or pride. So in this way experiencing sorrow or suffering is a good way to get rid of our arrogance.
That’s the first quality of suffering. The second one is that one develops compassion for the beings in saṃsāra. So if you’re experiencing some kind of suffering, then that gives you an insight into the experiences of all the other beings who are experiencing something similar or something worse. We think, oh, the poor things, they have to experience this kind of suffering. And in doing this, then in thinking this way, then we develop our our empathy and compassion for all other beings.
And experiencing suffering also makes us avoid sin and rejoice in virtue. And what this is talking about is the fact that if we’re experiencing suffering, then we’re going to want to do things that stop us from experiencing suffering. So through experiencing suffering, we’re going to want to create the causes to experience happiness and stop creating the causes for experiencing what we’re experiencing at that time of the suffering. So through looking at suffering, we’re going to want to do virtuous things, and we’re going to want to refrain from doing unvirtuous things. So this is especially true for those who have decided to become monks and nuns or or any kind of ordained person because if you choose this way of life, then you are opting to take on certain practices of asceticism.
Sorry. Not asceticism. And you’re renouncing some luxury. As a monk or a nun, then you’re not going to be looking for things of higher quality in terms of clothing and houses and possessions and things. Shouldn’t expect anything better than inferior places to stay, food, clothes, etcetera.
But through renouncing the pursuit of these kinds of things, then you’re able to train in the four things suited to beings working towards enlightenment. They can be content with the poor quality of the things that they have with the robes and the the alms that they receive and the places they sleep and so on. If you’re able to learn contentment as opposed to searching after things, then you don’t need any of the fancier or the more luxurious possessions that you may be craving after if you don’t choose to work with this. If you’re able to be patient and endure this the suffering of not having good clothes and a good place to sleep and necessarily good things to eat, then this means that you are not going to chase after better places to eat, more wealth, better clothes, a better place to stay and so forth. And in doing this, in chasing after these things, get distracted from practicing Dharma, from doing meritorious actions, from working towards your own liberation.
And this means by being distracted by this wanting better things instead of being patient and enduring the experience of lesser quality things and lesser quality lesser physical things that you will be able to get the meaning out of your life by turning it into the practice of Dharma. So if you’re not chasing after making your food better, your clothes better, your place you stay better, then you can concentrate on practicing Dharma properly and get make taking the meaning out of this lifetime by working towards a liberation and a Buddhahood.