Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. Using the vivid image of a pot turned upside-down, riddled with holes, or tainted by rot, Geshe Pema Tsering explains the three mental habits that prevent Dharma teachings from taking hold. In this 45-minute commentary from his Essence of Refined Gold series, he first establishes the three levels of motivation — bodhicitta, personal liberation, and seeking a good rebirth — then reviews the four greatnesses of the Lamrim text: that all Buddhist teachings are mutually supportive rather than contradictory, that they serve as personal advice for every listener, that they reveal the Buddha’s core intent, and that they guard against the serious error of dismissing lower-scope teachings as unnecessary. He then introduces the six qualities a student needs when listening, framed against those three container faults. Suited to practitioners engaged in a structured Lamrim study.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 03 2004 02 09 RG.mp3
UUID: 009f1386-66a3-4ab0-aac9-ad00601b0541
Teacher: Geshe Pema Tsering
Collection: Essence of Refined Gold (Geshe Pema Tsering)
Date: 2004-02-09
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 44.9 minutes
Words: ~3,930
We’re going to study the teachings of the graduated path to enlightenment today to to look at the text of the essence of refined gold. And in order to do this properly, we need to cultivate the right motivation for studying or listening to the teachings. This means that we need to develop the motivation, if at all possible, of the mind seeking to attain enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings. Now, whatever we do, whether it becomes a Dharma practice or not, whether it becomes beneficial in this exceptional manner that a Dharma practice is or not, depends on our motivation. The object that we are focusing on may be of Dharma nature, but whether it becomes truly beneficial or not doesn’t depend on the thing we’re focusing on, it depends on the motivation that we focus on that thing with.
So in this way, need to develop one of the three motivations in order for our practice or in for our actions to actually become dharmic in nature. So the first of these motivations, the best of these motivations is called the motivation of bodhicitta, that is to seek enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings. The middle motivation is that we are searching for our own liberation from suffering. And the last or the least of the motivations that are still considered Buddhist virtuous motivations is the motivation that we are seeking a good rebirth as a God or a human in our next life. Now, apart from this, we can do something with the motivation that it will help us in this lifetime.
We can think by doing this, I’ll benefit in this lifetime in some way. But this is a very limited motivation with a very limited result, so we should try really hard not to slump into that kind of thinking before we start listening to teachings. Now this danger of developing the motivation to benefit this life is something that’s very real for us and something that’s very that is very easy for us to do. It’s very easy for us to start thinking about this life only and stop thinking about future lives or attaining liberation or attaining Buddhahood because we have developed patterns in our mind stream or what’s called imprints or predispositions in our mind stream that main, tend towards thinking of this life, thinking of ourself as being very important. And we’ve done this so intensely and we have such a strong habit towards this kind of pattern of behavior, pattern of way of thinking that it’s very difficult for us to develop a different motivation to stop thinking only of ourselves and to try and focus on other beings.
So what we need to do is to put in a lot of effort and if we want to develop this motivation, we have to put in a very strong effort and work really hard at it in order to develop that motivation that’s focusing at least on the next life and hopefully on Buddhahood for to We need to work really hard in order to achieve this. The other thing is that if we if we meditate on this mind seeking or we focus on developing a mind or a way of thinking that seeks to attain enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings, we actually get a really big profit for ourselves. We benefit from it a lot. And the way that we benefit from developing this idea of focusing on others is that if we’re focusing on ourselves, we’re only focusing on what will be the result for one person. If we’re focusing on limitless sentient beings, then we’re focusing on something that’s result is limitlessly beneficial.
In this way, we can develop heaps of good karma or heaps of merit. And in dependence on that merit, we can develop understandings and develop insight into the nature of reality. Now, in order for us to attain Buddhahood, we need two things. We need to get rid of all our negativities and we need to cultivate all virtues or cultivate all good aspects of our mind. Now, by doing this, by focusing on bodhicitta and creating this merit, then what we’re doing is cultivating the good aspects of our mind.
We’re developing the potential of our mind. In this way, focusing on bodhicitta is something that actually benefits ourselves exponentially. As ordinary beings, the best way for us to develop merit or for us to develop the good potential is to focus on two things, either rejoicing in the virtuous actions of enlightened beings or other beings like that or meditating on bodhicitta or focusing on developing the mind seeking to attain enlightenment beings and enlightenment for this good of all beings. These two different ways of sinking are the best ways for us to benefit ourselves. So in this way, it’s very important for us to develop the motivation of seeking enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings in order when we listen to teachings or do any action.
So in this way we should think, okay, I’m going to listen to these graduated path teachings in order that I can understand them, in order that I can put them into practice, in order that I may attain enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings. So may this become a cause for me to attain enlightenment for the sake of all beings. Thought, focusing on that thought, we should meditate for a few minutes. Right, so we had gone through the full greatnesses of this text and there’s an overview of this through a quote by Lama Zonkapa, the first line of which says, through this text one perceives all doctrines as non contradictory. And what this refers to is the fact that in the Buddhist teachings there’s many different types of teaching.
So for example, when we look at what the philosophical tenets of the different philosophical schools of Buddhism, then we can see that on the surface they’re very different, they look very different. And if we also look at the three different stages in the Lamrim or the graduated path, then we see that the path of the lowest motivation, the path of the middle motivation, and the path of the greatest motivation are different. And also when we look at Sūtra and Tantra, they appear different. What this text does is show that even though they’re different, they’re not contradictory. Even though they’re different, then we need one of them in order to understand the others.
We can’t understand one thing if we don’t understand the other. It’s similar in terms of when we look at the graduated path that I’m room text, then in order for us to understand the greatest scope, in order for us to understand the greatest motivation, we need to understand the middling motivation motivation and before that we need to understand the smallest or the least powerful motivation. So we can’t say that, oh, we are a greater path practitioners, so therefore we don’t need to understand the other parts of the text. We need them in order to understand the more difficult aspects of their greater motivation. It’s a similar situation when we look at the system of organizing philosophical tenets or the things set forward or the explanations given for reality by the philosophical schools.
The system of the Indian philosophical schools, there’s said to be four different main schools called the Particularists or the Vaibhāṣika school, Sautrāntika or Sūtra school, the Cittamātra or mind only school, and the Mādhyamika or the middle way school. Now if we wanna understand what’s considered the most refined school of these, the Mādhyamika or middle way school, we can’t do that without understanding, for example, the Cittamātra or mind only school. So to say that we only want to understand the top or the most refined school without trying to work our way through the other philosophical schools doesn’t make sense because in order for us to understand one, we need to understand the others. So this means that this text shows how all of these things aren’t contradictory, all of these different strands aren’t contradictory, and that we don’t have the danger of thinking I’m a Mahāyāna practitioner, don’t have to have anything to do with the Hīnayāna or develop any kind of negative thoughts like that. So the next line of this verse says, All teachings arise as personal advice.
Now what this is referring to is that everything that the Buddha taught wasn’t taught just to be doctrine, wasn’t taught just to be put down in books for other people to read. It was taught in order to benefit us, in order for us to develop wisdom and to cease our suffering. Because the Buddha taught with the motivation to benefit all sentient beings, then everything that he said will be beneficial to all sentient beings. The Buddha didn’t just teach to a group of people in India a couple of thousand years ago, like his close circle of disciples or students. He taught with the intention to benefit all sentient beings.
So that means that all of the Buddha’s words are beneficial to all of us and not just to a few people a long time ago. The intention behind the teachings was to benefit all sentient beings, and because Buddha had developed his mind so much, he was able to see what would benefit all sentient beings. So through his realized state of understanding of mind, he was able to teach beneficially to all sentient beings. This means that when we’re listening to the teachings, we shouldn’t have the idea of, oh yeah, when they say that, they’re actually talking about you and not me, all right? And we have to have to take it all on as personal advice.
There’s no idea of they’re not talking about me when they say that, they must be talking about someone else. Everything that the Buddha said was in order to benefit all sentient beings, that therefore all beings can take it as personal advice. And this teaching enables us to see the Buddha’s advice or the Buddha’s teachings as personal advice. The the next line of the verse says the intent of the Conqueror is easily found. Now the word that’s used in the Tibetan for Buddha in this case is conqueror, someone who’s conquered their mind.
And then the intent is also the wish or the reason that the Buddha taught or the Buddha expanded these teachings. So this understanding is easily found. Now the reason that this understanding is easily found is that the main intent or the main purpose or the main wish that the Buddha had from speaking the teachings or manifesting the teachings is that we’re able to understand mainly renunciation, bodhicitta, and emptiness. By understanding renunciation, bodhicitta, and emptiness, then we’re able to develop realizations, develop Buddhahood. So that was the main intent of what he spoke, the main purpose for his teachings.
So these texts on the Lamrim enables us to develop an understanding of that. Now, so this means that in this text, we can see the Buddha’s intent or the purpose for his teachings, and then we see that all of his teachings aren’t just doctrine, but they’re things that we can take on as personal advice. So we can understand clearly what he meant, and then also take that on as personal advice. The next line of the verse says, and one is protected from the cliff of the greatest mistake. Now, the greatest mistake, what this is talking about is what’s called abandoning the Dharma or not practicing or not considering different aspects of the Dharma or the Buddha’s teachings.
This is called a cliff of the great mistake because it’s something that we can dance along the edge of or go close to the edge of if we don’t watch our step. And this teaching is said to protect us from this mistake. So this mistake we’re talking about the idea that people have that I’m a Mahāyāna practitioner, a great vehicle practitioner, so therefore I don’t have anything to do with the Hīnayāna, that’s our lower scope and I don’t need that, I’m too good for that, that kind of way of thinking. Because in actual fact, in order for us to achieve Buddhahood, in order for us progress along the path, we need all different aspects of the texts, all of the different vehicles, all of the different understandings. Without the understanding of the lower vehicle, there is no understanding of the more expansive altruistic vehicle.
So we can’t literally say that one is lesser and one is greater, it’s just different stages. The words are used to designate different stages of the path, not the potential from them. No, it was the wrong way. Not what they can give us. We can’t achieve Buddhahood without the lowest scope.
We can’t achieve Buddhahood without the idea of renunciation. So to say we only wanna practice one and we can’t practice another is not beneficial. It means that we are abandoning the Dharma, it’s not beneficial to us. Now the reason that this is called such a great mistake or a great negative action is because by cutting ourselves off from the so called lower aspects of the teachings, lower motivation, the lower scope, we’re actually cutting ourselves off from Buddhahood. Because in order for us to achieve Buddhahood, we need to practice all aspects of the Dharma.
So in order for us to achieve Buddhahood, we need to practice the lower scope. And therefore, we to be protected from abandoning that aspect of the teachings. So because of these what are called the four greatnesses, then it says that the wise and the fortunate of India and Tibet have thoroughly relied upon this excellent legacy known as the stages of the path of the three spiritual beings who of strong mind would not be intrigued by it. And so it’s saying that there’s been many people, many different practitioners in both India and Tibet over the last years who have practiced this path and achieved realizations from this path. And once we take that into account that these experts and great scholars and great meditators developed through this path, then if you are intelligent about it and you looked at it clearly, then you’d have to be pretty intrigued by the whole thing.
You’d have to be interested in what was going on because if you were intelligent, you’d wanna know how to develop yourself and so therefore you’d be interested and if you weren’t intelligent, you wouldn’t know. So therefore, you ask the question who is there that’s intelligent, that’s not intrigued by this whole process, then you have to say no. What? This one. Okay.
So, went through. Last week we were talking about the explanation of the four greatnesses, the four really good things about this text. And then what we’re just quoting, Geshe-la said what he just explained then was what’s called the root text that this explanation was based on. In the essence of refined gold, you have an explanation and then a quote from the root text by Lama Zonkapa. So what he just explained then was the quote from the root text by Lama Tsongkhapa.
Then so after explaining these four greatnesses, it then goes on to say that, the text goes on to say that because it has these amazing qualities and it has the ability to take, this text has the ability to take the essence of all the Buddha’s teachings and put it in a manner that people are able to follow clearly and by following this achieve complete enlightenment, then it’s impossible to say how beneficial even doing one session or focusing for one day on the teachings of this graduated path would be. If we are able to practice all of the Buddha’s teachings without exception, then we can think of how amazing that would be, yeah? In the same way if we take the essence of the Buddha’s teachings and practice that in the form of this graduated path, then practicing the essences has the same benefit as would practicing all of the Buddha’s teachings if we were able to do that. So it means that in a consequential manner, an appropriate manner, we understand the teachings, the teacher, we understand the Dharma, we understand what was put forward. And not only that, but we are able to develop an understanding from contemplating that and realization from applying that to our mind.
And so by doing that, then we become what’s called an appropriate vessel, which means like a good student, someone who is able to apply the teachings in an appropriate manner, understands what it is that they need to do in order to achieve these realizations. And so by doing this, if we’re depending on teachings that are unmistaken and we practice in accordance with these unmistaken teachings, then it’s like we get the blessings from all the condensed version of the Buddha’s teachings. And through this, we’re able to naturally abandon what are called the three faults of the vessels, the three negative ways of thinking that we could have in practicing this. And we are able to gather together the six conditions that we need to have in order to listen to the teachings properly. And in this way, it’s enormously beneficial to us.
So in this way, by listening to and studying these teachings, then we will develop realizations in an appropriate way by putting in heaps of effort. So what this means is that when we are doing these practices, once we’re trying to follow the graduated path and develop the understandings of the graduated path, then we need to abandon what I call the three faults of the pot or the three faults of the cup or some kind of container. And we need to develop the six attributes or the six discriminations that help us appreciate the teachings properly. So it says in the text that if we apply the if we get if we apply the six attitudes and we get rid of the three faults, then when we listen to the text or when we listen to the teachings and and apply them, then it’s gonna be of enormous benefit to us. So we need to know what these nine things are.
First of all we need to know what the three faults of the container or the three faults of the mug are right. And so the first one is that if we have a pot or a mug that has been turned upside down, then we can’t put anything in it. So if a pot or a mug is upside down, however much food or drink or whatever it is we pour into it, then nothing’s gonna go in. It just still falls off the edges. It doesn’t go actually into the pot.
And that’s the same thing as if we don’t listen. If we go to a place where there’s actually someone’s There’s an explanation of teachings or that we have the opportunity to teach, but we just sit there and hang out and don’t listen to anything, then we’re like an upside down pot. And there’s no sorry. And there’s really no point to us being The next fault of the pot is that a pot can have a hole in the bottom. Now, if a pot has a hole in the bottom, then no matter how much liquid we pour into it, it’s all gonna leak out.
If the hole’s big enough, no matter how much food we pour into it, it’s all gonna leak out. So there’s really no point of using a pot with a hole in the bottom. So in a similar way, if we go to study Dharma or listen to teachings or whatever it is, and we listen but we don’t retain anything. If we listen and then we don’t contemplate it afterwards and we go away and try and think about it and go, what did they say? I don’t remember a thing.
Then we’re like a pot with a hole in the bottom, like a pot that doesn’t retain anything. So what this means is not only should we listen to the teachings, but we should try and retain it. We should try and work at remembering what was taught. Okay. So the third fault of the pot is that the pot has a bad stain or a bad smell or a bad something that contaminates whatever’s in the pot.
And I said, like onion? And he said, No, onions smells good. So anyway, said things that are rotting, like something that’s rotted in the pot. And that means that there’s rotted, like that leaves a stain of like a bad smell. So whatever you put in this pot, whatever you put in that cup or pot or whatever container is you’re using, then it smells rotten, so you can’t eat the food.
Yeah, it makes all the food gross and you don’t wanna eat it. So this is the same as if we go and we listen to the teachings and we take in the teachings. But while we’re doing this, we have all these negative thoughts that come up along with this process, which makes us unable to appreciate the teachings properly or appreciate the Buddhist message or the Buddhist explanations properly. So this for example would be if we were sitting in a teaching and thinking, or we didn’t go to a teaching, or we’re sitting in a teaching thinking, this teacher really doesn’t know what he’s talking about, he has all these faults, hasn’t understood properly, I understand better than him or her and then they also, the way that they’re presenting it isn’t very intelligent, they’re obviously very thick. If we start thinking these things while we’re listening to the teachings, then we’re not going to take the most benefit from it.
Likewise, if we really like the teacher and we’re sitting there going, yeah, I’m gonna sit up straight and pretend like I’m listening because then the teacher will like me, then this isn’t a very beneficial way to listen to the teachings. Or if we think, yeah, if I listen to these teachings, then I’m gonna know something, and if I know something that I can impress people, that’s not a very beneficial way to listen to the teachings. We need to be listening to the teachings with the idea of how this can benefit our minds in order for us to benefit others. So we need to have that motivation while we’re listening, not this idea of what we can get out of it or negative things about the teacher or how we can impress people with the teachings with with our knowledge of the teachings. So in actual fact, when we’re listening to teachings, we shouldn’t be that concerned with who’s teaching anyway.
Because if we’re focusing on the person presenting the teachings, and then we’re not really getting that this was something that was presented for us and has been handed down in order to benefit us from from the Buddha, from the Buddha and his motivation to benefit and the Buddha’s motivation to benefit all beings.