Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 45-minute session, Geshe Pema Tsering opens with a contrast drawn from Śāntideva: ordinary beings have cycled through suffering from beginningless time because of self-cherishing, while the Buddha attained enlightenment by cherishing others — a difference that anchors the whole discussion. He explains why equalizing and exchanging self with others was historically held as a secret teaching reserved for disciples with suitable minds, and shows how cultivating cherishing others naturally gives rise to bodhicitta. He then distinguishes aspiring from engaging bodhicitta and outlines the three styles of developing it. The Q&A focuses on a sharp practical question: is the “I” used in morning refuge prayers a self-cherishing I? Geshe Pema clarifies that the nominal I — free of inherent existence — is what actually proceeds toward enlightenment, using a chair-and-labeling analogy to illustrate dependent origination. Suited to practitioners already working through the bodhicitta sections of Lamrim.
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File: 08 Exchanging self with others – Aug.mp3
UUID: 0afbc187-c02f-41a7-a9c5-eb9d43978f47
Teacher: Geshe Pema Tsering
Collection: Lam Rim 2002 Bodhisattva Deeds (Geshe Pema Tsering)
Date: 2002 (exact day not recorded)
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 44.9 minutes
Words: ~3,258
And Love it. So the in terms of self grasping attitude. The self grasping attitude is the one which always thinks inside ourselves, you know, I and I existence, always there. You know, I. I.
Okay? And that I which we establish as true inherent existence, but in reality, the the such such I, it doesn’t exist the way we perceive. So where self-cherishing attitude is the very is supporting the self grasping attitude, which is I and I I, which is self grasping attitude, which holds I I. And self-cherishing attitude protects that self grasping attitude and and and wanting that I, the grasping attitude, to have all the happiness and so forth. So so these are the two types of mind that self-cherishing attitude works and and wishing that I to have the happiness.
So the briefly speaking, then, you know, all the miseries come from that the the self-cherishing attitude. And I think, may I have happiness, may I have all the goodness. And that mind, you know, may I have all this goodness sitting some way somewhere around the corner, you know, at the backward, and then that influence all the action to do. And due to this, you know, not sticking with the law of cause and effect or a karma and letting you stop doing positive actions and instead to encourage you to do all the non virtuous actions. And through this, the miserable comes — all sufferings.
So therefore, you know, as far as one is not free of self-cherishing attitude, one will not be free from sufferings or miserables. Because no matter how much, you know, the Buddhists and Bodhisattvas have showed the power and then the great your masters have teach the teachings taught by the great bodhisattvas and buddhas because of the self-cherishing attitude which stops you from undertaking all the actions taught by the great masters. So therefore so up till now, we lack understanding of falls of the disturbing self-cherishing attitudes and the benefits of the cherishing others. And we have as a result of those, we go through the sufferings and so forth. So now that we have the teachers to show teach you the teachings taught by the great masters, and you have a text to studies.
So so should should listen to the teachings and study the text and make yourself understand that that the all the miserable sufferings and so forth comes from the self-cherishing attitude. And self-cherishing attitude is an entrance for all those miseries, and the cherishing others is the entrance for all the happiness. By by knowing so, by making yourself understood, and today onward, try to obstruct or or try to to to minimize or eliminate the self-cherishing attitude and increase the cherishing others. Right. Got it.
So and now to the second one, which is all the the thinking about the benefits of of of cherishing others that that great master Śāntideva has set forth. All that happiness comes from cherishing others, as well as we said earlier that Pänchen Rinpoche in his Guru Puja that the the the cherishing others is the entrance for all the good qualities and happiness as well as mind training that should remember the kindness of the the others. So so so by having self-cherishing cherishing others, but by self by cherishing others more important or cherishing others, then of it is not to mention that that will that will lead you towards the attainment of liberation and enlightenment. But even for the all the happiness of this present life, your current life come from the cherishing others. So either said all the good qualities or happiness of this life are also come from cherishing others or we cherishing others or helping others.
Because by stop committing the act of killing, as a result, one will have a long lifespan. And by practicing generosity, as a result, you will have good enjoyments yep, good enjoyment or wealth. By maintaining patience, you will receive all the benefits which are described in the patience class or patience text, and I I call this eight ripening results. And the and also the yeah. Also, the great master Śāntideva in his Engaging in the Bodhisattva Deeds — don’t need to explain much. You know? Look where ordinary beings are because of cherishing self. And where Buddha is by cherishing others — which means the ordinary beings, not just a little, but the sentient beings because of self-cherishing attitude, working for self. Where they are at the moment, they have been suffering in the cycle of existence again and again from the very beginninglessness, from beginningless. Whereas Buddha, by working for others, cherishing others, attain enlightenment. So look for that.
So therefore, like Lord Buddha Śākyamūni, if we think only for the others all the time, by doing so, definitely, we will be Buddha as well. That’s for sure. That is, but he didn’t develop this overnight. Right. So can we develop cherishing others?
And and, yeah, the this this cherishing self is and the self-cherishing attitude is very hard to overcome or or hard to abandon. And and as a result of that, we in we go through the suffering and we were born in cyclic existence again and again. And and and yet, so therefore, and therefore so so and cherish others is very difficult. And and because both the one is so hard to attain with cherishing others and one is so hard to give up with cherishing self. And by doing this up, the training in the exchange equalizing and exchanging self and others is very difficult, you know, because we have to replace completely, you know, put the cherishing self somewhere else and bring the cherishing others.
And because it’s so hard, it was set forth in the ancient time that the training that equalizing and exchanging self and others, this teaching is set forth as a secret teaching. It’s only taught for the disciples whose the mind streams are right or suitable to teach. So so so those when we said equalizing and exchanging self and others, which is you exchange the self-cherishing attitude and the cherishing others. And and by doing so, then you you have to exchange those two and cultivate the cherishing others. And by cherishing others, then one wishes for them to have entire happiness and be free from sufferings and attain Buddhahood.
And and and by having such wish because of cherishing others so important, and then wishing them to have the ultimate happiness with this Buddhahood. So in order to let them have the entire have the state of Buddhahood or bring them into the state of Buddhahood, then one will come into know that unless and and one can’t fulfill such wish or thought, unless one attained enlightenment before, yeah, for the sake of entire sentient beings. By having oneself reached the Buddha, then one can bring the entire sentient beings. So do and through this, one develops a the altruistic intention or bodhicitta that wishing to attain enlightenment for the sake of entire sentient beings. So in order to practice or the train one’s mind equalizing and exchanging self and others, the training or the necessity of practicing sevenfold cause and effect instruction is very important before doing the exchanging and equalizing self and others.
So we have roughly finished the teaching on how to develop a bodhicitta through training one’s mind in sevenfold cause and effect instruction and through the equalizing and exchanging self and others. And so, yeah, that’s the rough explanation on how to develop bodhicitta through those two points and through training in those two methods — sevenfold cause and effect instruction and exchanging self and others. So in terms of bodhicitta or altruistic intention now. And in terms of bodhicitta, then it has two types of bodhicitta, aspiring and engaging aspiring bodhicitta and engaging bodhicitta. And and otherwise, there are also two bodhicitta called the ultimate bodhicitta and the conventional bodhicitta.
So it has completely different meaning. So both the aspiring. Aspiring bodhicitta and engaging bodhicitta are both the both are conventional bodhicitta, whereas whereas the ultimate the ultimate bodhicitta refers to the wisdom realizing emptiness. Right? And so in terms the way of developing a bodhicitta, there are three ways of developing bodhicitta, which we have taught in the earlier class.
Yes, in classes it’s very important to recall and keep in one’s mind the three — developing a king-like bodhicitta and the shepherd-like bodhicitta and the boatman-like bodhicitta or captain-like bodhicitta. So Geshe-la said he will So this concludes the very nice session, Geshe-la said. So and tomorrow, we’ll begin from the next subdivision, which is how to train how to train in the deeds of Bodhisattva after having trained in the deeds of Bodhisattva after generating or having developed the altruistic intention. So and yep. And we’ll stop here and take questions.
Sir, Geshe-la said that have you gained yep. Up up till now, all having all these lessons on the bodhicitta, did did you gain certain experience or the understand not experience, some understanding on bodhicitta? So and if it’s Yeah. If it is quite confusing and too much, then you don’t really have to think much. You know?
Just think briefly on the recognising sentient beings as one’s mother and then on the renunciation a bit, then wish that all the actions, all the practices when performed will become a cause for the attainment of enlightenment for the sake of others. And by doing so, you don’t really need to think much about all these things that’s described, but the solid meaning is there. So and when we do such practice all the time, you know, for the sake of entire motherly sentient beings, you know, for the sake of an entire entire sentient beings, and a certain portion of the mind, there’s a danger of thinking, well, if I do everything for sentient beings and motherly sentient beings and nothing left for myself, you know, there’s certain kind of worry will come. And there’s a danger of coming, but you don’t really have to worry at all because when entire motherly sentient beings have reached their enlightenment or have happiness, then you are already there. You know?
Don’t worry. And and and also also, the purpose of doing so is because when when you do practice, you do it for the sake of entire sentient and for others. By doing so, then your your virtues or your merit become more powerful. So so therefore, any positive actions or a practice one perform and then do it only for the benefit of sentient beings and only for the benefits of others by completely uprooting the self happiness or self self-cherishing attitude, they forsake self-cherishing attitude and do it only for the others benefit or for the sentient beings. By doing so, then and doing doing so is the best antidote and it’s best harm for the self-cherishing attitude.
And that is good. And we need to harm self-cherishing attitude as much as we can. So we’ll stop here. It does not yeah. It’s so true, but you can’t doesn’t need to be a self-cherishing.
Even you’re hungry, you can have through your motivation that, you know, there are I mean, if I don’t eat, I want some wine, then I won’t be able to have others. But therefore and I shall eat something so I’ll feel healthy and and fit. And through this, will practice. Eat for me. That’s better.
You know? And No. No. Well, it’s pretty much the same. You know?
You don’t have to eat just with a craving or just I want to eat this chocolate. You know? Because even chocolate chocolate can also help, you know, and builds your health as well and then moderately if you stick with the limit, I guess. And then yeah. So and it can also help you to survive, to practice.
In the morning, we do our practice and set our motivation — that we do this practice with the intention of becoming fully enlightened and benefiting all sentient beings. That “I” for me, because I had no realisations, is still grasping. Is it okay to use that “I” or should I use it with the understanding of maybe the “I” that’s not inherently existing — which from its own side wishes to become fully enlightened and benefit all sentient beings? Grasping this. I’m still, you know, I I believe I’m here in existence.
I haven’t realized any any emptiness or anything. So that I, as self-cherishing I, at that stage of the story, could I use it in that context, or should I use it in a different context? I’m totally lost. So am I. Should have thought about it.
The eye which you said in the morning to attain enlightenment for the sake of entire sentient beings that so you’re talking of two eyes, actually. Is that what you mean? No. I’m I’m I’m talking about one eye, but I know that In the morning, one. Yeah.
Like, I I wake up and I do my practice in the morning. Sure. And the motivation I see is that I’ve made this vow to practice Uh-huh. Given the cause to become fully enlightened and to benefit all others. Yeah.
But that I don’t say is the self-cherishing eye because Yeah. My Okay. Understanding. Right? So is that still okay to use it if they contacted me on the cherishing and and So is it okay to use that particular eye Yeah.
For that context of attaining enlightenment? Yeah. Even though I know that it’s I’m it’s a self-cherishing eye. Obviously, I’ve got no no understanding of anything other than that. Okay.
So technically, this I mean, they are all the same I. So free of inherent existence of I is always there within you. It’s always there. But we always because of our lack of knowledge or understanding, we don’t see how it exists free of inherent existence. We see it different way, opposite.
So it’s saying called inherent existence of the I. So and so merely, it’s the same I. It’s only the nominal I — or free of inherent existence of the I — that is the one which attains enlightenment for the sake of entire sentient beings. Indirectly, even in the very morning in the refuge prayers, you know, the practice I perform would become a cause to attain enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings.
Indirectly, it is. You are the the indirectly, you you are that the self No. No. No. No.
The grasp the inherent free of inherent existence of the eye is the one that’s actually going to enlightenment. It’s it’s already doing it in in in terms. It’s there. Yeah. That’s Yeah.
Any questions? Okay. Yeah. Cool. Emptiness, yep.
Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Because and the collection of the the parts of of the chair is not a chair as well. It is because if it’s a collection, then you don’t you you gather all the all the parts of the chair are not completely fixed.
You know, leg, hand, backseat, everything. You know? You pile up and somewhere in the corner, nobody would say that’s a chair. But there are the collections. Collection of the chair is there, but it’s not a chair.
Yep. So when parts of the collection the parts of the chair is there and it’s been fixed in a proper way. And that moment the chair is there and chair has been formed because the moment it’s been all the collects up, the parts of the chair has been put in the right way. The moment one finish it, the mental labeling has already been established already and give the name it’s chair and give the name and the nominal name of the chair is there because it functions the definition or functions the functions the chair’s function. Yeah.
But when you look for a chair, you can’t look, you know, but the part of the chair is not a part. And collection of the chair is not a chair as well because then, as we said earlier, in a part of all the parts of the chair, the corner, and then collection is there, but you can’t say it’s the chair. The chair is not there. This is how it goes. But provided the object has a chair.
Because the moment No. No. To to to in order to label the the name of the chair, there has to have the valid basis to label that name to the object without having a proper, excuse me, proper object to label, one can’t label the name. So the moment one labels the name of the chair to the particular object, the particular object would already been established as a chair and it functions the way it functions the job of its title or its name. So when and yeah.
This is how the chair the objects of the labeling has been object to label has been formed. So what were you saying? So If somebody functions So so the logic that says it’s not the mere collection of the parts. Yes. It’s when the statement said it’s the collections of the the the the chair is not a chair, which is because because because if the collection is not necessarily that it can function as a chair, even though the collections or parts of the the chairs is there chair is there.
Because in order to have on the the chair or limb, one has to have a valid object or a basis to label object as well as have a valid the the the name in terms of a valid sound or a valid name of the chair, which is there are two types of names. It’s act the first one is actual sound, which is the sound, which is chair, actual name. And then inside the mentally, in terms of the conception, we should have this is a chair, you know, inside. So you have need to have a valid name. So by by by having all the valid necessities, then the moment and then the labeling of the name chair has been labeled and also the object can function the job of the chair.
I thought that was more. Yes. I guess that’s it. Okay. Question.
Alright. The one story — that somebody had realised emptiness but hadn’t developed the bodhicitta. You can’t — how come you cannot go back and meditate on, oh.
Go back to the Mahāyāna. Yeah. I feel like, can you you meditate on? I’m sure he can’t even go back. Well, it is very good that the practitioner develop emptiness, which is good.
And because of realizing emptiness, he become a supreme being, which is a stream enterer of the lower vehicle. So it’s still a supreme being, not ordinary being. So which is good. But in terms of and and and the person is also a sharp faculty, practitioner of sharp faculty. And because of having strong self-cherishing attitude, he’s