Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 45-minute commentary, Geshe Pema Tsering grounds the Lamrim curriculum in Maitreya’s teaching on Buddha nature: every being possesses such a nature, currently obscured by delusions, and the practices of hearing, contemplation, and meditation gradually purify the subtle consciousness toward enlightenment. Mid-session he pauses to ask the class directly whether studying impermanence and precious human rebirth has produced any felt change — “if nothing changes, it’s like a rock” — before finishing the section on that rebirth’s rarity and its causes: pure ethical discipline, the six perfections, and sincere aspiration. The session’s most detailed passage lays out karma’s three-part structure (motivation, preparation, action, and completion) through two everyday examples: stealing a single dollar with full intent and swatting a mosquito. Even small acts become powerful non-virtue when all three components are present; the same logic governs prostrations and other virtuous actions, where motivation is the decisive factor.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 07 LR 2002 03 26.mp3
UUID: b31ee86d-3982-49c8-80dd-eda65f094632
Teacher: Geshe Pema Tsering
Collection: Lam Rim 2002 Bodhisattva Deeds (Geshe Pema Tsering)
Date: 2002-03-26
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 44.8 minutes
Words: ~2,809
The great master Maitreya Buddha stated in his text called the Uttaratantra — the text on the lineages of the Mahāyāna teachings — said that all the sentient beings have a nature, or say the Buddha nature. So because all those motherly sentient beings have the Buddha nature, so they will all be enlightened. So because all these motherly sentient beings, every entire sentient beings have a mind or a consciousness. And so therefore, because of that consciousness, they possess consciousness and so called the emptiness or the emptiness or the reality of the consciousness is the one which attains enlightenment. Therefore, all entire bodily sentient beings have the Buddha nature to become Buddha.
So as for the Buddha nature, they set forth the two types of it’s been classified into two saying so called the mind itself or consciousness itself of the sentient beings and the reality or the emptiness of the the the consciousness. So all those we so called we call it like this Buddha nature. At the moment, it’s been obscured by the delusions or disturbing emotions. Due to this, because of this, at this stage, the nature of the sentient beings cannot manifest it, you know, manifest. So we call it: at the moment by nature they are pure and stainless, but adventitiously or currently they are stained by the adventitious or current disturbing emotions.
So now because they are they are obscured by the stains of disturbing emotions at this stage what we need to do is we need to clarify or or or abandon all those stains of disturbing emotion. So there are numbers of stains which defile or which pollute the mind of the sentient beings. So out of those, there are numbers of disturbing emotions like the four hundred and twenty-four disturbing emotions, and mainly the root delusion here is so called ignorance of grasping, you know, true grasping attitude. And because of that ignorance, one cultivates numbers of non virtuous actions. And all those actions obscure the mind.
So in order to purify all those stains, you know, one needs to engage in the practices of listening, or hearing, contemplation and meditation. Practices of hearing, contemplation and meditation — doing so, that practices or through by doing so, one lays the latencies or predispositions on the consciousness, or so called the subtle consciousness, which has been wandering in the cyclic existence from the very beginninglessness of time. So as we said, that that very subtle Buddha nature or the consciousness wanders which has been wandering since from the beginninglessness of the time. And that consciousness, subtle consciousness, has been obscured by the stains of disturbing emotions and so forth. So by doing such practices of listening, contemplation and meditation one lays or one imprints the predisposition or yeah, predisposition or latencies on that subtle consciousness and by doing so one gradually removes the stains.
So the more one does practices, the more one removes the stains from that subtle consciousness level. Through continuous practices of contemplation here listening and meditation and one, one continuously by yeah, through continuous practices, one continuously purifies that total consciousness or that Buddha nature and gradually once it’s been completely free of all the stains and that consciousness becomes Buddha. So because all of our practices is to attain enlightenment so therefore each and every practices which one does becomes the purification of stain. So this is the general explanation of the entire sentient being and if we go more farther detail then you can divide it into two because of the two vehicles like the Hīnayāna and the Mahāyāna. So those who were to attain the liberation or nirvana of the lesser vehicle so called we call it call the mind or the nature of Hīnayāna liberation and goes to vice versa towards the Mahāyāna.
So what we need to do here is do the practices of hearing, contemplation and meditation for the attainment of enlightenment, and that is for the sentient beings, for the sake of sentient beings, so therefore our aim or goal is to attain the liberation or the nirvana of the great Mahāyāna vehicle or Mahāyāna. By doing such practices one can develop great compassion and love towards sentient beings, wishing them to have all entire happiness and compassion towards them — seeing, and being unable to bear seeing those marvellous sentient beings undergo such huge sufferings. So the more one engages or involves in such practices and one purifies the stains of the conscious, subtle consciousness or the mind. And at the sign of improving is that later on one can clearly see the qualities of the Buddhas and the great works, understands how Buddhas and bodhisattvas they work how they work so hard to benefit sentient beings and can’t bear seeing sentient beings, motherly sentient beings go through huge sufferings and yeah, the number of signs one can just see. So we do the practices of hearing, contemplation and meditation.
For example, like, you know, study of the sufferings of the lower realms and how listening towards the teaching of how difficult it is to find this precious human rebirth with the eighteen qualities, the eight leisures and ten endowments and so forth. But in order to become that practice, in order to to become such practices to attain the liberation of the Mahāyāna, so called enlightenment, then one needs to have the have the great compassion along with such practices. So up until now we have been through the teachings. We studied all those the topics of topics like how difficult it is to find precious human rebirth with eighteen qualities, the impermanence and death and so forth and you have I’m you have been, you know, you have heard the teachings so you have I’m sure you have been contemplating on those teachings and doing meditations and meditations on such topics and do you feel anything different inside you? There any changes happened?
So when we say, is there any changes or improvements within one’s mind, what it means is after going studying all these like, the precious human rebirth, impermanence, death and so forth. So by doing such studies if one feels uneasy inside and get develop a fear towards the cyclic existence so forth, then that is the sign. The teaching is really helping one. If it doesn’t make any changes at all, one still feels the same as before, then it’s like a rock. There’s no change in.
So we do all numbers, different types of practices or the the positive actions. And whatever practices one does, the positive actions one does, it’s entirely depends on the motivation from the very beginning. So therefore it is important for one to have proper motivation motivation that one’s practice will become either of the actions of this small scope or initial stage, middling and the great stage. So having a proper motivation from the very beginning is very very important and this is the reason we talked about or we set up our motivation from the very beginning of the teaching or a class And because whether the one’s action is going to be a positive or not is entirely dependent on one’s motivation. So because here we are we yeah because we’re studying the stages of the path or yeah the Lamrim text here so what kind of the motivation required here is the motivation which is upheld by the bodhicitta or altruistic intention, and that is wishing to attain enlightenment as soon as possible for the sake of motherly sentient beings.
So by having such a motivation — motivation here that may I attain enlightenment as soon as possible for the sake of all motherly sentient beings. On such motivation we do a short meditation. When we say to do meditation on such a mind, what it means is one can think and approach from different angles or of reasons why, or how, or why one should attain enlightenment quickly for the sake of all motherly sentient beings, why it is important. So all of that is the proper meditation we are doing. Good.
Mhmm. Yeah. Now we have finished almost all the sessions of the small scope,, say the precious human rebirth with eighteen qualities. We went through the freedoms or the eight leisures, ten endowments and in terms of yeah and so forth like an importance of the precious human rebirth and we were now we also so we are on the third division, subdivision which is considering how difficult it is to find and it has three divisions and that so called considering its rarity in terms of analogy and its rarity in terms of its causes. Now, you finish those two parts, we only did the third one which is considering its rarity in terms of its nature and as a result.
So So as we said, finished in the earlier classes that how the precious human rebirth is how difficult it is to attain or find and that has been explained in terms of analogy, its causes and so forth. Now here the nature, by its nature or as a result what it means is the nature is the precious human rebirth itself that has all these eighteen qualities like yeah, eighteen qualities and because as we said we thought yeah, we taught in early classes that it has the causes to attain. In life, the precious human rebirth — one needs to have the very pure ethical discipline as a basis or a foundation and on the top of that it, that pure ethical discipline needs to be supplemented. As a basis, on the top of that one needs the practices of the six perfections like generosity, giving, patience, concentration, wisdom, enthusiastic effort.
Six? Yes, so forth. You heard of that? Okay. And also needs to have a pure, yep, prayers to attain or or or wishful prayers to to be born as a human rebirth.
So all these are the causes to attain the precious human rebirth. And there are many reasons because, for example, the sentient beings, we have so called the good migration or happy migration and the bad migration. So which means after death where one travels. So and it it is very very rare that that the sentient being or this very rare that that the the sentient beings go through the good migration after death. See, Lord Buddha Śākyamūni himself has stated that the travel from good migration to good migration and bad migration to good migration is very very rare.
It’s like this little substance sitting on the Buddha’s thumbnail — just that little bit. And the travel like good migration to bad migration and bad migration to bad migration is like the entire substance of the world — that great in amount. So which means the huge gap between those two. This one? No.
So it is because the population of the six realms, so called the good migration and the bad migration. As for the good migration there are three types of beings like the gods, demigod and humans. And for the bad migration so called the animal, animal migration, hungry ghosts, and the hell realms. So out of those six, the population in the hell realm is the the most, the highest rate and then and it’s the highest and after that is the the hungry ghost and this animal and then go to human demigod and the gods’ population is the smallest. And the reason why it happens, such such like difference in population happens is because those the there those who who they accumulate, these beings accumulate non virtuous actions are more, yeah, the greater the the greater the non virtuous or the yep, non virtuous actions, the greater they have, the more they suffer and which means the greatest one will if it’s a very great non virtuous actions, then one will lead towards that will lead one towards the hell realms and then goes to the hungry ghosts and so forth.
So in terms of the greatness of the non virtuous actions, it yeah. How it comes in the the different different in the greatness of the non virtuous action is, for example, like, they’re killing a little insect. So that if the actions, entire actions is there, like, the so called preparation or motivation, an actual execution or action and the completion. If all these three actions are conclude or present, then the killing of the little even the little insect becomes a very powerful non virtuous action. So yeah.
So called or it can be for the so called the the motivation. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. For example, like, now it it can be like motivation, preparation, actual action and the completion.
So for example, like as Geshe-la said, stealing: a single act — first the person has a motivation and then he that is the first one, it’s called first action. So, it’s yep. It has the motivation and then the person walks towards the money, towards the single box, walks there and all these actions, the walking towards the distance, called the preparation or getting because, you know, preparation and then takes the money and that’s the actual action, the so called execution or actual action. And after having stole all the money and it’s in his pocket and feel content, God, I did did a great job here and I feel content. So, and by having all this, then the person has included all the actions and even though there’s just a little a single dollar, it’s not much but the action itself becomes huge or a great non virtuous action.
All he or she got was just a single dollar but because of having all these actions presented, the action, that particular act of stealing becomes a great sin, or great non virtuous action, and as a result it will lead the person to the lower migration like the hell realms. So it goes then towards the act of killing. For example, like a tiny, a single little, yeah, a mosquito here and the person, you know, sees it and then suddenly, even in a moment one can have a motivation and then raise his or her hand, the preparation is already there and then hit on it and it kills the mosquito and had it, okay, now I feel better, you know, it’s gone and so forth. The actions are present in such actions as well. So likewise, it’s same as the greater virtuous or virtuous actions will lead a better rebirth and whether the action is one’s action become a virtuous action or not, it entirely depends on one’s motivation and having had the motivation and then one needs also one needs to include all the necessary all the requirements like have motivation, do positive actions and preparation, actual action and the completion as well.
So, yes, it’s it’s it’s depends on motivation whether the action will be will become a positive or not. And for example, like, for example, like, if the the easiest virtuous action we can cultivate is is making or prostration or or or the holding one’s hand towards the the one’s towards Buddha’s one’s guru or lama so forth. And what it needs is the motivation first and the one needs to have motivation of pure, proper respect. And with such motivation, one folds hands together and bows towards the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, for example.
And by doing so and then dedicating well, that’s, yeah, but and dedicate the merit I gain from paying respect — so forth — may I attain enlightenment for the sake of motherly sentient beings. By doing such, what we did was just bow down and hold our hands. But the positive virtues we gain from doing such action will help one to attain enlightenment. And so say the same for the virtuous actions as well. To to perform a very great virtuous action, one needs to have a proper motivation, actual action and completion as well.
And yeah. I need all these three. If accidentally one performs like a hundred prostrations by thinking, oh, people will, you know, think that, you know, I’m doing a great job, or doing it for one’s fame and so forth, then that action is not completed with the proper motivation. So there is virtue, but not as great. It won’t be as great as with the proper way of collecting the virtuous action or the aspiration.
And and beside that practice actually becomes a so called worldly concern because of one’s fame and so forth. So so out of those three, the motivation is the most important part because every action conjoins or comes with motivation