Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. Fear of death as the engine of practice is the central argument Geshe Pema Tsering develops in this 45-minute Lamrim commentary. Drawing on Nāgārjuna’s verse — “in the lower hells one burns like a sun, in the upper hells one freezes” — he works through the lower scope of the graduated path: the fragility of precious human rebirth, death arriving “like a thief in a crowded market,” and the stark fact that at death only karma travels with us, not possessions, family, or body. He is blunt: without intense fear of death and the lower realms, there is no genuine reason to practice. That fear opens into the logic of taking refuge — he explains why Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha are worthy objects of protection and how Buddhas act without discrimination toward all beings.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 13 2004 03 16 RG.mp3
UUID: bc8d4db4-cd0f-41cf-98b2-861852e0bac9
Teacher: Geshe Pema Tsering
Collection: Essence of Refined Gold (Geshe Pema Tsering)
Date: 2004-03-16
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 44.9 minutes
Words: ~3,404
So Geshe-la thinks that because it’s the morning that you’ve just fin you’ve all just finished doing a lot of meditating. And so therefore, you don’t need to do any more in class this morning. But he said what you do need to do is to develop the right motivation for listening to the teachings. So these teachings are on the graduated path to enlightenment. So therefore, in order to develop the right motivation, you should be thinking that what but that by listening to these teachings, you’re creating a cause, to become a fully enlightened Buddha.
So what this means is that may this you should try and develop the idea or the motivation that by listening to these teachings, may that become a cause for me to become a fully enlightened Buddha and be able to establish all beings in that state beyond suffering. And so that so you develop this idea and then think, by listening to these teachings, then may I know these teachings, may I understand these teachings? By understanding these teachings, may I be able to apply these teachings or practice these teachings, put them into practice? By following this path in that way, may I then become a fully enlightened Buddha in order to be a benefit to all sentient beings. So we’ve been discussing the three different levels of motivation or three different types of motivation that we do in the path to enlightenment, that being the small, medium and highest capacity of motivation.
So these three understandings or these three motivations are based on the attainment of the precious human rebirth. In order to take the essence from that precious human rebirth we then need to train in these three different motivations or these three different scopes So that is the lower scope in order to attain good human or God rebirth, the middling scope in order to attain liberation, or the highest scope in order to attain Buddhahood. So we need to know the way in which to train in these three things. The first thing that we need to train in is the lower scope and we need to become proficient in the practices of the lower scope. So the lower scope, is explained this way.
The training in the lower scope is explained this way. It is said that the precious human rebirth, that we have now, you know, this endowments and leisures is said to be difficult to find and easily lost. We don’t know how long we’re going to last in this precious human rebirth, but one thing is certain and that is death. And not only is death certain but the time in which we’re going to die the time when death comes isn’t certain. We don’t know how long it is that we’re going to stay in this lifetime and when it is that we’re going to die.
Given this uncertainty of time and the certainty of death, then we should do the best we can to take the essence from this lifetime that we have. I couldn’t see Geshe, and I was cracking me up because I go, listen. He’s going like this. I had wondered that he went to the day before. Right.
He was bending his head this way, and then he was going through the clouds. And I was trying, like, Geshe, death. Serious. Don’t laugh. So we’ve had all of we need to take the essence from this lifetime because we don’t know when this lifetime is going to end.
And the other thing that we need to remember is that up until this point, have taken many different lives. We’ve had many different rebirths in many different states. We’ve been important people and non important people. We’ve been in different realms. We’ve been able to help.
We’ve been able we’ve been unable to help. And to all of these lifetimes, death has come along like a thief in a market that we haven’t been aware that it’s there. It snuck up on us like a thief in a market, crowded market. So while we still have this lifetime, while we still are experiencing breath or we’re able to do things, then we should consider ourselves to be incredibly fortunate and we should try and use this opportunity to focus on what it is that we need to do. In order to do this, then we should focus on the fact we’re going to die and develop a fear of this death so much so that we are unable to stand that fear so we are forced into acting in the most beneficial way.
So by focusing on death again and again then we develop this intense fear which is like not being for some reason not being able to sit still. So you’re so so agitated by the fear that you’re unable to sit still. And then based on that fear, you then develop the the wish to make the most of this lifetime. So in this way, then we should reflect on the people we know that have died and the people we’ve heard about that have died and how many people that have had more realizations than us that have died, how many people that have had more understandings than us that have died, our teachers that have died, our our our guides or mentors that have have died, people that are younger than us that have died, people that are older than us that have died, people that are we don’t know about that we don’t know personally have died. How many people do have passed away during our lifetimes?
And in that case, how lucky are we to still be here, to still be breathing? And we should be very happy about that fact that we still have created the causes to continue existing in this lifetime and that we’ve created the causes to be born in this lifetime and then that we haven’t that we still have to cause us to stay alive. So we should have reflecting that in a in a glad way or a happy way. Then we really need to focus on the fact that we don’t know when it is that we’re going to die. We don’t know exactly what moment it’s going to be at.
It could be any time. And from that reflection, we need to develop intense fear. If we don’t have intense fear, we don’t have Dharma. If we don’t have intense fear, we have no reason to practice. So we need to develop that fear, in order to be able to understand how how important this lifetime is.
The other thing that we need to know about death is that when we die, we can’t take anything with us. We can’t take any of our possessions. We can’t take any of our friends. We can’t take any of our servants. We can’t take any of our, any of our family with us.
The only thing that we die with is ourselves. We can’t even take our bodies with us. So that means that all of the things that we’ve done, of the hard work that we’ve put into in order to get possessions, in order to make people like us, in order to make those around us happy, in order to stave off our enemies, all of these things don’t actually help us at the time of death nobody can come with us we can’t take our friends with us we can’t take our possessions with us we can’t even take our body with us but what we do take with us is the imprint or the results of the negative karma that we’ve accumulated by trying to attain these things, trying to attain material possessions. We work really hard in order to get material possessions. We work really hard in order to make our family and those close to us happy without regard to other beings.
We work really hard in order to, attain wealth and the health of body and so forth. But when it comes to death, the only thing that we take with us is the negative karma that we’ve accumulated in order to bring those things about. The hard work that we put in to bring these things about is actually the cause for suffering. So that’s only the the only thing that we take at the time of death. So usually, we are fascinated or intrigued by the way that we can make ourselves happy in this lifetime, the things that we see, the things that appear to us as making us happy.
So we invest a lot of time into trying to bring about samsaric happiness in this lifetime. So that means we’ve invested a lot of time in trying to find out what to eat, what to drink, how to entertain ourselves, how to accumulate wealth, how to accumulate friends. And these three things it says people, wealth and eating. These three things we accumulate again and we have done in previous lifetimes again and again and again in order to try and make ourselves happy. But in all the different lifetimes that we’ve existed, in all the different rebirths that we’ve taken, these things haven’t actually helped us, they haven’t actually got us anywhere that’s just created the causes for us to experience saṃsāra again and again and again, so we from this we can see that they don’t actually benefit us ultimately they only benefit us in the short term and they don’t haven’t actually got us anywhere because we’re still in the same state that we were beforehand.
So having seen that they don’t help us in that way, then we need to figure out, what it is that actually will help us, and then put effort into that. Okay. So the the the from understanding this, then we should make the resolution or we should develop a very strong idea that from this moment on, we’re going to only do what is beneficial, what is only what is gonna help us at death. Because the thing is that at the time of death nothing but Dharma actually helps us if we ask what it is that will actually benefit us when we are dying then none of the things that we’ve accumulated will Only the, you know, Dharma practice or the, positive things that we’ve done, will be a benefit to us. Anything that is non dharmic will be, will have negative influence on us at the time of death.
The reason for this is that when we die we don’t disappear. We don’t become non existent. When we die we go on to experience different rebirths in either a positive or a negative state. So these rebirths in a positive or negative state depend on what our previous actions of karma was. So we don’t have any autonomy or independence to decide where it is that we’re going to be reborn.
Our positive and negative actions are the causes or the thing that propels us into these different states. So given this, it means that what happens to us at death depends on what we have done in this lifetime or previous lifetimes. It depends on our positive and negative karma that we’ve accumulated. So by training in this lifetime, in positive ways of action acting, it means that at the time of death then our mind will be in a positive state and from this we will attain a positive rebirth. If at the time of death our mind is in a negative state or an unvirtuous state then that acts as a cause for us to be born in negative rebirth where there is different suffering, intense suffering.
So what this means is that we have to train at this time in order to prepare for our death. So we know we don’t know when it is that we’re going to die and we focus on the fact that we are going to die, then that will cause us to perform virtuous actions and train in virtuous actions. So when death comes, then we’ll be, prepared for it and we will able to have a positive mind that will lead to a positive rebirth. So it says, Nāgārjuna, the great Nāgārjuna said, remember that in the lower hells, one burns like a sun, and in the upper hells, one freezes. Remember how ghosts and spirits suffer from hunger, thirst, and climate.
Remember how animals suffer the consequences of stupidity, and abandon the karmic causes of such misery and cultivate the causes of joy. human life is rare and precious. Do not make it a cause of pain. Take heed. Use it well.
So, what he’s referring to is, like, the suffering that we can, create the causes for if we develop negative karmic patterns in this lifetime. So when it says, Remember that in the lower hells one burns like a sun and in the upper hells one freezes, the experiences of the hells are said to be so extreme and there’s no respite in the suffering that there is the suffering of burning and the suffering of freezing. Ghosts and spirits suffer from hunger, thirst and climate. The main suffering that’s associated with the spirit realm or the hungry ghost realm is that they’re constantly trying to find food or drink and even if they do find food or drink or a pleasant climate then they don’t experience satisfaction from that because it can get stuck in their throat or they’re unable to get sustenance from it. So they’re unable to find satisfaction for any of their desires, even in the short term.
So their body gives them nothing but their body gives them nothing but suffering. And the animals experience intense suffering through stupidity, not understanding what things are happening, and also through the suffering of eating each other. So they’re in a constant experience of eating one another and being eating eating and being eaten. So this means that we need to reflect on the idea that the sufferings of hot and cold in the hell realms are said to be unbearable. We wouldn’t have the power to, to experience them.
Then also the experiences of, of hunger and thirst in the in the realms of the hungry ghost is said to be, we don’t have the ability to endure that either. And also the, suffering of, stupidity or lack of understanding in the, eating each other that goes on in the animal realms, we wouldn’t have the ability to withstand. If we think about it now, if we put our if we were to put our hand in hot embers or in fire for even a little second, we wouldn’t be able to bear that. And if we had to sit on freezing cold ice, without any protective clothing for very long, wouldn’t be able to bear that. Even if we were to have to go for twenty four hours without food, we find that very difficult.
And even if a bee bites us, we have trouble dealing with the suffering or the pain that comes along with that. So considering this, how are we going to be able to stand the heat and cold of the hell realms? How are we going to be able to stand the eating each other that goes on in the animal realms? How are we going to be able to stand starvation and the thirst of the hungry ghost realms, the unquenchable desires in the spirit realm? How are we going to withstand any of those?
So what we need to do is to meditate on these, to concentrate on these, to develop a fear of these states. And through this fear, then we will want to get rid of the causes that the causes that create these states. Okay. So if we develop that understanding, if we develop this intense fear of the the the lower realms, then we’re going to want to abandon anything that creates the causes for us to be reborn in the lower realms. So this means that we’ll work really hard to abandon the causes for suffering or to abandon the causes for being reborn in the lower realms, and we’ll work really hard to develop the causes for being reborn in the higher realms, to be reborn in a state of relative happiness.
So the other thing that comes about from this the other thing that comes about from this meditation on the sufferings of the lower realms is we develop a need for refuge so having developed a fear of the lower realms and the causes that get us there and this idea of trying to work really hard to stop creating the causes to experience that, as it was explained before, then we have this intense fear. We have an intense fear of being reborn in this state which propels us to do something positive. Now, what we need to do from this intense fear is then look to something that can actually offer us refuge or protection from that experience. And so what we need to know then is what the Three Jewels are, what the Three Jewels of refuge are. Having realised how precious these Three Jewels are, then from the bottom of our heart, then we go to refuge for these.
So if we have this intense fear of the lower realms, then that creates a firm refuge a firm sense of refuge within us. So we then need to know how it is that the Three Jewels are able to grant us protection from the sufferings of the the lower realms. So to start off with, we need to look at the Buddha jewel. How does the Buddha jewel grant us suffering grant us protection from the sufferings of the lower realms? The Buddha jewel themselves gotten rid of all fear and all suffering.
So therefore, they’re able to show other people how to get rid of all fear and all of the suffering that they are afraid of. So because of this, they are able to, through skillful means, show beings how to stop experiencing the suffering of the lower realms. This, combined with their great compassion that is focused on all beings and doesn’t hold some close and others far means that they are able to be of benefit to all beings without exception and continually working for the benefit of all beings. Because of all this, then they are said to be worthy then the Buddha jewel is said to be a worthy object of refuge. So in the same way that the Buddha jewel is said to be a worthy object of refuge, then it follows that the Dharma jewel and the Sangha jewel would also be a worthy object of refuge because they are established by the Buddha.
The Dharma jewel is actually said to be the qualities, the realisational qualities of the Buddha’s, arhats and Ārya beings. Beings who have realised emptiness or have completely gotten rid of their negative emotions. Their positive qualities are said to be the actual Dharma jewel. And the beings who have these qualities, the beings that have these qualities are said to be the Sangha jewel. So it then seems obvious that these qualities and these beings would also be able to help us or act as a refuge for us from our fear and our sufferings in the lower realms.
What this means then, what we have to remember is that the Buddhas don’t have any kind of discrimination between sentient beings. They developed the idea of bodhicitta in order to attain buddhahood so they could be a benefit to all sentient beings. And it’s not as if they attained buddhahood and then forgot about that. That was the cause for their attaining buddhahood. So after they attain buddhahood, all of their actions, everything that they do is in order to benefit all sentient beings without discrimination.
So they’re consistently present in order to help beings who turn towards them, whose mind focuses on the Buddha, minds focus on the Buddha. Therefore, they offer, you know, refuge in this way. And the Buddha having a strong refuge can even mean that we are protected in