Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. Opening with a Kālacakra Tantra verse on dedicating merit free of self-cherishing, Geshe Pema Tsering uses this 44-minute Lamrim commentary to address two connected themes: the danger of corrupting practice with self-interest, and the suffering embedded in human rebirth. He explains why every virtuous action must be dedicated for all sentient beings rather than personal gain, and uses a Tibetan image — wisdom realizing emptiness as butter on fatty meat — to show how renunciation, bodhicitta, and emptiness reinforce each other. He then works through the ten stages of human life from conception to old age, dwelling in detail on the suffering inside the womb — darkness, heat from the mother’s tea, the weight of her hand — and the shock of birth, urging practitioners to recognize these as real grounds for renunciation.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 02 LR 2002 06 04.mp3
UUID: 55234dd1-31e5-4dc8-8a19-83ffcf767c42
Teacher: Geshe Pema Tsering
Collection: Lam Rim 2002 Bodhisattva Deeds (Geshe Pema Tsering)
Date: 2002-06-04
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 44.5 minutes
Words: ~2,787
Kālacakra Tantra. In the Kālacakra Tantra it is stated that he said he dedicates all his merit attained or virtues obtained in all three times — present, past and future — and without having a single stain of the self-cherishing attitude: “I shall here dedicate all this merit of the present, past and future in order to free those motherly sentient beings — for the sentient beings to be free from suffering or cyclic existence.” So the great master here is saying that not staying with the self-cherishing attitude or self-purpose, which means that that those those virtues recollected are not for the individual liberation or freeing oneself from the cycle of existence.
And those are performed in order to benefit sentient beings, entire sentient beings without remaining a single. So for that purpose, because it’s been cultivated in those purposes, he shall here dedicate all his virtues for the betterment of entire sentient beings. So likewise, we, any any virtuous or positive actions we have one cultivates should not be stained with the self-cherishing attitude or self-purposes. It should not be cultivated for the individual benefits. And without having a stain of individual benefit, should cultivate the virtues for the betterment. So should cultivate it for the others and dedicate it for the others to be free from the miseries. So therefore Yep. It’s okay. So therefore, you know, it is very important to be very careful here because most of our practices, you know, we Mainly becomes the individual practice for the individual benefits.
That and not only for the self-purposes, mainly towards the happiness of this present life, like achieving a fame or becoming rich and etcetera. And so it is it is and so there is huge danger. Most most of our prayers mainly converted in the individual benefits, especially for this lifetime. So it is very important for for one to be very careful that making sure that whatever positive actions or virtues one collected should should should do it for the betterment of sentient beings and dedicate it dedicate those virtues for the attainment of enlightenment in order to help the sentient beings. And, therefore, you know, make should should always dedicate it in a proper way and one should not dedicate all the virtues only for the individual liberation or attainment of arhathood.
Because by doing so, then once our dedication has been stained with the stains of self benefit or self purposes. So because we are here, the practitioner of Mahāyāna, and being Mahayanists, our practice should always be upheld by the bodhicitta or altruistic intention. And along with that, if one has the wisdom of wisdom realizing emptiness and using them both and by having both of them, the bodhicitta as a method and wisdom realizing emptiness as a wisdom, combining those two, then one attains or one works to attain enlightenment for the sake of for the sake of entire sentient beings. So the bodhicitta is very important here. And additional to this, if one has the wisdom or cultivates the wisdom realising emptiness, then it becomes like a Tibetan saying — getting drops of butter on the meat.
But don’t worry about it. What it means is, you know, we like fat stuff. Mainly, in order to become one’s practice, the Mahāyāna practice, it should be the one’s practice should should be consist of three principal aspects of the path, which is the renunciation, bodhicitta, and wisdom, realizing emptiness. So we’re back to that, you know, the meat and the butter stuff. You know, Tibetans usually in up in the Himalayas eat lots of meat and we actually like lots of fat.
In terms of myself, I really like it. And so the meat itself is a very fatty stuff. And if you give a butter on the top, it becomes really, really So that’s how it happens. Wisdom realizing emptiness. If you have everything, then it becomes like a butter on the meat.
So, yeah, so in order to cultivate those three principal aspects of the path, renunciation or wish to free from cyclic existence, bodhicitta, the altruistic intention, and the emptiness, wisdom realizing emptiness. So in yeah. First, I want to I want to develop the renunciation by thinking through the many aspects or many flaws that that knowing that there is no happiness at all in this cyclic existence and knowing how one undergoes through the suffering and develop a wish to free from the cyclic existence. And by knowing this, wanting to liberate or achieve arhathood, but then convert one’s thought from oneself. Converting thought towards the motherly sentient beings — thinking that they are same as oneself, wishing happiness and not wanting suffering.
And and and and and and through this, endeavor have a wish that wanting those motherly sentient beings to free from yeah. Wishing yeah. Wishing to free those motherly sentient beings from the suffering of samsaric existence and let them have the ultimate happiness. And through this, one cultivates the the the wanting a wish to attain enlightenment or Buddha, become Buddha, in order to help sentient beings and that is so called the bodhicitta. And upon those, by doing on those, then think that the sentient beings are the very ones for which purpose one is doing the practice. And the practice itself — renunciation, bodhicitta — are all, and briefly speaking, then entire phenomena, yep, phenomena are are free of inherent existence and they don’t exist the way it appears to us or to oneself.
And knowing that seeing and see those the phenomena that they exist merely through the mental elaboration or or or or or Yeah. Fabrication. And and by doing such meditation, then those or such meditation is consists of the meditation or cultivating the three principal aspects of the path. So we shall do a short meditation here by thinking — for the purpose of all these sentient beings who do not inherently exist in the way they appear, and for that purpose, I shall here practise to attain the enlightenment, which also does not exist inherently.
And and on the basis of that, oneself is also not inherently exist. And by focusing on those, so But the main The the renunciation, sentient beings, bodhicitta, as well as enlightenment, yeah, with the the mind of altruistic intention and what And seeing along with the mind of yeah. Altruistic intention, seeing this every all the phenomena are inherent inherent exist free of inherent existence. And on such basis of meditation, we shall do a short Yeah. Meditation.
Now last week, we stopped at the topic here, a second subdivision, which is thinking about the suffering of cyclic existence in particular. So for which it has two subdivisions, which are the thinking about the suffering of the lower ones and the thinking about the sufferings of the good rebirths. And as for the first one, we have explained the sufferings of the lower realms during the first scope, the small scope, which the previous or last term. And by knowing the sufferings of the lower realms during the study of the small scope, now one should see and get sick of these sufferings by knowing them — like the person who can’t stand even a word about wine or alcohol, who got sick of it, you know, by using excess of alcohol or intoxicants and finally got sick. When the person recovers and you mention alcohol or offer a beer, and they just get sick at the name.
So likewise, you should see and then get sick of the sufferings of the lower rebirths. And now on to the second part, which is thinking about the sufferings of the good rebirth has three divisions as well, which is the sufferings of the human, thinking about the sufferings of the demigods, and finally, the sufferings of the gods. And now thinking about the suffering of human rebirth has seven. The first one is the suffering of birth. So after having after having studied about sufferings of the lower rebirths in the first scope or a small scope, now one may think that there can’t be much sufferings in the good rebirths.
It is possible of thinking. One it is possible for one to think in such way, but that thought is also mistaken because as far as one is in the cyclic existence, one’s always been tortured by the sufferings of saṃsāra. And and and sufferings yeah. So so it’s it’s just a matter of whether or not. It’s just a matter of recognizing the sufferings.
And if one understands the sufferings, then one can see that as far as one’s cyclic existence, one always goes through the sufferings. And so whenever one attains nirvana or the liberation state, then or leaves the cycle free from saṃsāra, cyclic existence, then one is free from the sufferings. In terms of practicing, then the the precious human rebirth is the is is the perfect rebirth to practice the the yeah. Yeah. For practicing for practice.
But speaking of the term, speaking of sufferings, then there is huge lots of sufferings as well. And for example, in terms of suffering of the birth, we go through huge suffering during the time of delivery or during the time of birth. But at this stage, we don’t think or we don’t we don’t think because we have forgot all the sufferings at the time of delivery. For example, like, because of our one’s practices of this present life of cultivating lots of virtuous actions, and one is supposed to take a human rebirth in next life. But even though one receives one receives the the good rebirth because of the as a result of the practicing, but but that but during that life, one one one is not still not free of the suffering.
Yeah. Free from suffering of birth For example, like in terms of the suffering of the birth, there are, for the human, there are so forth the ten states that fight during the time of pregnancy within the month at the time one conceived and before the delivery at the five moments. And then after that is the five moments, after the delivery. And in terms of the moments, they are They normally take care. It’s not really clearly here, if that’s alright.
In terms of what they’re talking about — can’t remember the exact words — saying something like: the sperm, then comes the meat and the fluffy stuff and so forth in like five stages of the embryo’s development. Yeah. Never mind. If you really want to know the words, in the library there’s a dictionary — the Buddhist terminology one. I think there is.
So the first one is called in Tibetan word, it’s it’s kind of like not really fully formed, but it’s like a yogurt. First one. And then the second stage, this one’s become completely meat. Alright. We’ll find this.
And the second third one is so called no. It’s it’s the very second moment. It’s very easy to come limbs out from that meat. Fetus. Yep.
Alright. I’ll just wait for the dictionary. And the fifth one fourth one is called now all the limbs are out. So and then, yeah, started to give some motions. And the fifth one is now at the very moment one’s about to come out.
They’re saying, oh, maybe today, tomorrow. The first one is the five durations during the pregnancy. It’s like up to twenty weeks. And then the five durations after the birth: the first one called the baby, babyhood — until the first of ten years are called, so we can call it baby. And then they say the forties, from ten to twenty-five. And then twenty-five to forty-five — middle aged? And between forty-five to fifty-five or sixty is called well, between middle age and old age. And then after sixty years is called the old old age. So these are the ten moment, ten durations from the mothers conceived till death.
So so during the five durations, the time of the in my pregnancy, the first one, you know, at the the moment one conceives, one has a huge it’s it’s like one has at the the first moment is the one’s body like a yogurt. A little bit firm, I guess. And at the time of conception, the consciousness entered the mother during the time of the parents’ union. And the consciousness was in the intermediate state and is unstoppable.
It only stopped at where it was going to take rebirth. So and at the moment, when one’s consciousness has been conceived, one has a huge suffering of heat at that time. And then the second moment, during the time inside the mother’s womb, the limbs are starting to expand or come out. And at that moment, one has the the huge sufferings a feeling like, you know, it’s being pressed. You know?
Oh, Yes. I don’t know about it. It is in the new new edition, but sorry about that. Well, I’ll I’ll give it to you later. So we forgot all these sufferings after our birth.
We can’t we don’t remember how sufferings how many sufferings we have suffered during the time inside the mother’s womb. And for example, like the moments when the parents, like some mother had a cup of tea, like a very hot cup of tea, And inside the the the baby feels like it’s been boiled in hot water. It’s very hot and warm. Yep. And and then the mothers make the movements.
First, like it’s being blown by a wind or cyclone. And then when sometimes, you know, the mothers, play, you know, like, put their hands on the tummy. And and it feels like, you know, they’ve been, you know, been like a huge rock on the top of them, very heavy. So one has almost the same suffering which is in the hell realms. For example, like during in a mother’s womb, there’s no light at all.
It’s always dark. And as well as not just dark, and the one’s left in the dirt like blood and so forth. It is like, for example, like, you know, there’s a huge dam, huge dam or a vase filled up with the dirt, and then you were put inside the vase and closed the door. And how much suffering you go through, you can’t even stand for one day. So it’s it’s almost even a worse feeling or a suffering one has in a mother’s womb, being darkness and so forth.
So and so in such sufferings, one one stays there for nine months and ten days in the mother’s. And then, yeah, and then during the at the very last moment of the pregnancy or inside mother’s womb, then once one gets sick of being in and wants to leave the place, and that is the moment it comes, the the time to do of the delivery. And at the time of delivery, then one comes out. And and the moment, one still has huge go through the suffering because during the time of delivery, one has been squeezed and and and very badly. I don’t think you wanna know about this.
And so suffering goes. And then and then no matter how smooth and soft the one is being placed on after the delivery, and one still has feel like, you know, there is suffering of being and a lot of needles been placed in one’s body because inside mother’s womb is very soft and smooth. And and when it comes out on the very nice soft and smooth material, One still has not been one body’s been like needles everywhere. And then additional to that, one has a great fear. Nothing with that.
It feels like one’s skin has been taken off. And then in the moment after being lifted up in the mother’s hand, for example, one feels huge fear, you know, because of not recognising one’s parent or a mother, and one has a huge cry. And all the qualities And all the qualities or the education, the knowledge you have from the previous life has been forgotten and and not don’t even know how to walk. So one has to to learn from the very beginning how to eat, walk.
So so these are the sufferings one undergoes through. And as far as one is not free from cyclic existence, one still — each and every rebirth, for example the human rebirth — one should not neglect it by thinking