Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. The story of King Mandhata — a universal monarch who ascended to the gods’ realm, sat on half of Indra’s throne, and still craved more until his merit ran out and he plummeted back to earth — anchors Geshe Pema Tsering’s 45-minute commentary on the sufferings of cyclic existence. He opens by addressing right motivation: practice must aim at enlightenment for all beings, not reputation or a better rebirth, with self-grasping identified as the quiet force that redirects even sincere effort. He then works through the second disadvantage, dissatisfaction — illustrated by flies drawn to flames, animals endlessly licking salt, and Mao Zedong’s reported hunger to rule the world — before turning to Nāgārjuna’s Letter to a Friend on the third disadvantage: the futility of clinging to a body that karma will discard regardless. A Tibetan proverb closes the theme: satisfaction is the greatest wealth.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 03 LR 2002 05 14.mp3
UUID: 2622dcd7-782e-4a0c-919c-6abb847d496a
Teacher: Geshe Pema Tsering
Collection: Lam Rim 2002 Bodhisattva Deeds (Geshe Pema Tsering)
Date: 2002-05-14
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 44.8 minutes
Words: ~3,171
So the great master Pänchen Lobsang Chökyi Gyaltsen in his Guru Puja said that we have found this precious human rebirth, which is very difficult to obtain. And after having found such, should not let oneself wander after the pleasures of this present life. And should not wander after the activities of this present life and make use of this precious time and rebirth to extract the essence from this precious time and rebirth. And may the gurus will bless me to be able to do so. So which is very true that we have found a very precious human rebirth and that is very very difficult to obtain.
And not just we have obtained the precious human rebirth because this precious human rebirth has a huge great use that if one does one can practice with yeah. Practice as well as one can understand or yeah. One can understand the teachings if one make good use of this precious human rebirth. Yeah. We do practice that we come here to the center and do the refuge prayers, seven-limb prayers, and so forth.
But whatever we do the practice, make sure that we do it in the right way. So the purpose during practice, for the best, one should do the practice in order to attain enlightenment. And if not, then should do it to attain nirvana or liberation. And for the worst, at least try do practice to attain the higher at least higher rebirth in next life. Right, which means the essence here are the Buddhahood or enlightenment, liberation, and the higher rebirth.
So but we everyone here is very interested in in the practices of Mahāyāna. So yep. Mahāyāna, therefore, therefore, the the the purpose the main aim or goal of of the Mahāyāna teachings is to attain enlightenment. Therefore, whatever practices one does here should make sure that the one practice will become a cause to attain enlightenment and should not let your practice become a cause to attain higher rebirths or the pleasure of this present life. Because because there are many practitioners who does good practice, but the most of the practitioners, their their become a cause to attain.
Yeah. Their their purpose of doing practice is to receive some fame or good reputation in this within the community and attained wealth and pleasure for this present life. So therefore, it is very, very important for one to take yeah. It’s very important for one to be very cautious, you know, when one does the practices and make sure that one’s practice won’t become a cause to attain higher rebirth or or to attain fame or wealth and pleasure of this life. And and many, they don’t want to but it happens accidentally or it happens because because the we say I or mine is very very important.
It’s very precious for somebody or for everyone. So when we say I want this and I want the pleasure, I want the money, everything. So I is very precious. And due to this, you know, sometimes, you know, one’s practice become and because of that I, practice becomes directed towards the attainment of the pleasures of this life. That should should make a resolution here thinking that for this present life, you know, because of the hard work of my mind in our previous lives, we have attained this precious human rebirth.
And according to the karma collected by the previous life, whether it’s a happy or happiness or a suffering I undergo through in this present life, I don’t it doesn’t really matter. So what one needs to do here is making sure that whatever practice one does for the betterment to attain enlightenment, to become a cause to make yeah. Cause to attain enlightenment within this life, even not at least if one’s practice become a cause to attain Buddhahood in future lives. So therefore, whatever practice one does in this brief life, any kind of practice, making sure whether it’s big or small practice, that become a cause to attain enlightenment. The reason why one wish to attain enlightenment or one wishes to be wish wishes that one’s practice become a cause to attain enlightenment is because by attaining enlightenment and becoming Buddha then one can benefit countless numbers of sentient beings and help sentient beings free from suffering and bring them to ultimate happiness.
So this is the purpose that one is wishing to attain enlightenment. So with on such motivation that whatever practice and the practice I do may I — through the power of those practices — attain enlightenment for the sake of all motherly sentient beings. And on such motivation of altruistic intention, we shall do a short meditation. So the mind which wishes to attain enlightenment for the sake of all motherly sentient beings is so called the altruistic intention or bodhicitta.
So and that is the that is the mind or or yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That is the mind every we need to cultivate. Right.
Yeah. So we shall do a short meditation. So the last week, we started from the suffering of cyclic existence in general. So it has six main sufferings, and we went through the first one, which is the disadvantage of uncertainty. And now today from the second one, which is called the disadvantage of dissatisfaction.
And what it means is that no matter how much one receives or enjoys the enjoyments of saṃsāra or cyclic existence, There’s no satisfaction at all. One keeps wanting more and more. It’s for example and like like the bees yeah. The flies go for yeah.
It was very attractive to the lights. And this is how the fly goes flew over the butter lamps or towards the lights, and they got burned and dead. And like bees, you know, goes after the fragrance, the flowers, or yeah. So forth. And so so no matter how much one one experience the the enjoyment or pleasure of this present life.
There’s no satisfaction at all. Because it’s like the animals, like a cow or a horse, is like the salt. Whenever they see the salt they just keep licking it and never stops licking it. And through this, because of this dissatisfaction, and this is how one circles in the cycle of existence. So like those animals, you know, the the flies goes after lights and the bees after the fragrance of the flower or juice of the flower.
So likewise, the humans are same as well. Starting off from nothing and then found a one dollar and, yeah, before that wishing to have a dollar. And then when they found a dollar wishing, oh, maybe ten, and then goes to twenty and hundred and so forth. Later on, how much money one has still not satisfied with their life. And there there is no essence at all experiencing all this all the worldly happiness because because up till now, we there is nothing in this samsaric existence — no enjoyment or pleasure in cyclic existence — that one has already experienced.
One has been how one has had the experience of being a universal king, the pleasures of the god and demigods as well as humans, so forth. There’s nothing exists in this world that one hasn’t experienced. And so there there there is no satisfaction on the the the suffering or dissatisfaction is like even if somebody has the entire equivalent wealth of wealth of entire wealth of god in this world, and person is very rich, but still is not satisfied how much he or she has. So, yeah, the disadvantages of being, yeah, suffering of dissatisfaction. And one of the true stories — a Jātaka story of the Buddha, which means it was one of the Buddha’s past rebirths, not after his enlightenment. Before he became enlightened, one of his rebirth was a king called Mandhata.
I I don’t know. I can’t remember the in the Sanskrit name. Anyway, he and he was set forth to be a very, very he was a universal king. A universal king, that means the the rules the entire four continents according to the Buddhist cosmological system, I guess. Tell me.
And this time, I think. And he was very, very powerful and and still not happy with what he has. And because of being a universal kingdom, they had a miraculous power or feat. So he, through his miraculous power, so called, went up to the god’s realm, so called the realm of the Thirty-Three. And and that and that realm’s king was called Indra.
Right? Indra. Yes. Indra. And then he still wants to have the the the kingdom of the and he sat on Indra’s throne. Indra is a king and a different Buddhist deity or god.
And he sat on half of the throne and ruled half of Indra’s kingdom. Still not satisfied with what he got. And as a and gradually, and he’s yeah. He still wants to have more entire kingdom of the the king Indra. And at that at that time, his karma was exhausted.
And as a result of that, he lost his miraculous miraculous power and then finally dropped back into into this world. And so it is very, very true that there is no satisfaction for the pleasure of this of the saṃsāra as we the and, yes, saṃsāra because the more the more you have, the more you want. For example, like, Geshe-la said, take the American president as an example here, that he is the first person at a very top in America being a president, but he’s still not happy. He can order in America, but he and he but his orders may not be followed in other countries these days. But still being American president and he’s he or she is still not happy with his his or her position, still wanted, maybe, will I be a leader of entire world?
Probably, there are things like that. And and, for example, like, the Chinese one of Chinese leaders, Mao Zedong, I’m sure you know. And and he he he was very powerful. He he wanted to rule entire world. And but but he he he was not able to because only Tibet and Mongolia, that’s all he that’s all he get.
Therefore, there is no satisfaction. Got it. Got it. Yes. The of the Chinese, one of the former presidents, isn’t it?
Prime minister, isn’t it? And he’s he made a public statement or or announcement in Tibet when he was there. He said that in this world, there’s only one enemy left, which is America he hasn’t captured yet. If he he captures America, then entire world is under him. That the statement announcement was made when he yeah.
In Tibet when he was there. Right? According to that statement, he he didn’t even mention Australia at that time. Already under under China, I guess. No.
So he made a huge, huge so I’m making a mountain out of a molehill, isn’t it? Yeah. Something like that. That so all all he got was Tibet, Mongolia, a part of Mongolia and took those towns. Yep.
Took his town, so forth. But but in Tibet, the announcement was we what Geshe-la heard at that time was, you know, America is the only one left now. You know? If America comes under him and he’s the top of the world. So he still wanted to invite other countries and America so forth.
And, unfortunately, he died. And he he didn’t just start straight away — he started with thinking, I want to capture all those. And then at the end, he’d So what it means is there is no satisfaction for this.
Yeah. Yep. And yeah. For the or so called the the enjoyments of this of the Samsāra because because the more you have, the more you want. And we may not be a greedy like the Chinese president, but but but we have, like if you have one hundred dollars, then one hundred to a thousand, and then multiply to hundred thousand.
So even yeah. So there’s no satisfaction. We keep wanting more. Yep. So, therefore, all this happened because of not having satisfaction.
So it’s very important being satisfied with what one has, because we have a saying in Tibet that satisfaction is the treasure — the best wealth. With that wealth of satisfaction, even a hundred wealthy persons cannot rival it — does that make sense? So if the person has satisfaction, then he or she will be very happy and and and always yeah. Always happy and satisfied with what they have. They don’t need much, then it’s just if they have a food to eat and clothes to wear and a place to stay.
And because of their wealth, which is satisfaction, they they can be very happy. So therefore, it’s very important for us to have the satisfaction, you know, and and and and be content or, yep, be satisfied with what one has. And and if one has what one got, then there’s not much point of working harder and then and get more because because first thing, there is no satisfaction for one. And secondly and one does not necessarily need it because one has what one needs. So it’s good to be content with what one has.
So, yeah, if one hasn’t got if one has no satisfaction, then it it’s it’s very there is a huge disadvantage of not having satisfaction because because then one keep wanting more and more. And then according to that, and then one has to work hard and do more activities and so forth and get stressed. And then later on, because of the work thing, you know, hurt other people, get angry and and cause problem here and there, and and which is not pleasant at all. So therefore, it’s very important. So now we are on to the third disadvantage, which is the disadvantage of discarding one’s body again and again — losing one’s body again and again.
And here the great master Ārya Nāgārjuna, in his text called the Letter to a Friend, said that is no essence or no meaning to be being very attached to this body. So because there yeah. Not much essence or or, yeah, or use of being so attached to the present body because because because we have taken and and even the body of the universal king or the god yeah. Universal king and and has yeah. That it’s it’s a, you know, very important body.
But later on, you know, it passes away and and then can be born in the hell realms and being and that body, you know, can be and it will be burned. But yeah. And later on, it will be burned. So even so there’s not much point later on and ended up in the fire or yeah. So there is no yeah.
Still, according to the Letter to a Friend, even if one is born — according to Buddhist philosophy — in a god’s realm where the sun and moon arise from the rays of the gods’ bodies, radiant with light, no matter how much one has, later there is still no point being attached to one’s body, because according to karma, one will die and can be born in a very dark place where one cannot even see one’s own hand. And yeah. So therefore, you know, the the the we have we have experienced that that yeah. We we have been born as a god and a humans and received the happiness, any kind of happiness of the human and the the gods as well as the any kind of their wealth.
We have experiences and it, and we have had it. And as as well as excuse me. And as well as we can say that there is nothing in this samsaric existence — no enjoyment — that we haven’t experienced. But we but they they those enjoyments or experience we have experienced hasn’t been much use at all because because yeah. Haven’t hasn’t been much use I mean, been have been used or or one had received for a time at the time of the birth as a god or a human, we receive something, but it’s still not the Yeah.
But at that moment, you know, we we have been enriched and so forth. At that moment or temporarily may have enjoyed a little bit, but what what it has done to us is is is nothing. You know? We we lost everything. For example, like, we have been we have been born in the god’s realm and being and have enjoyed everything at that time.
But what was the use of those enjoyments? Because at this stage, when you try to recall as much and how hard one try to recall it, and can hardly remember anything. And so therefore, yeah, we have same we have experienced the the the the enjoyment or happiness of God and and the humans in the past as well as gone through sufferings. But at this stage, we can’t show anything. All we can understand here is we still we still receive the the the the the results of the good actions or karma collect yep.
Cultivated by our previous life. And if you still, yep, using the the karmas of the previous life. Right. So so whatever happiness and so forth, one experiences in the past so forth, then they have been no use. And and because those are the phenomena or enjoyments of the cyclic existence, so therefore, there is not much point or use of experiencing all those enjoyments.
And at this stage, we can’t see or show anything. Right? And but we’re still not satisfied with what one have what what we have done and still according to one’s one’s, yeah, according to one’s capability that still try to, you know, experience or still try to cultivate or work for wealth or or, yeah, wealth or fame and so forth, even though they have no essence at all. So therefore, no matter how much the wealth or enjoyments we have at the moment, they have no essence at all. Like earlier lives, later on, they will we will lose as well lose them as well.
And there was a story that once there was a master or a lama, and he was about to die, and then his disciples, and they approached him and said, well, give give us a last, you know, word or last advice or a teaching. And the lama repeated the same line a couple of times saying, there’s no essence for the enjoyments of this life or enjoyments of the saṃsāra a few times by saying this and after repeating two or three times, and the lama passes away.