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 pointed reframe: what we normally call illness — headaches, bodily pain — is secondary; the real sickness is the three poisons of attachment, anger, and ignorance. He traces how each poison operates in everyday life (craving an attractive object, a conversation that spirals into mutual resentment) and explains that liberation requires understanding emptiness, which in turn demands a vast accumulation of merit through bodhicitta practice. The commentary then shifts to the Lamrim section on relying on a spiritual friend, drawing on Maitreya’s Ornament of the Sutras to detail ten qualities a qualified teacher must possess, five qualifications required of a student, and the foundational practice of regarding one’s guru as a Buddha.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 13 LR 2002 02 19.mp3
UUID: b464a406-6330-41a0-bcb7-2d980b7d7415
Teacher: Geshe Pema Tsering
Collection: Lam Rim 2002 Bodhisattva Deeds (Geshe Pema Tsering)
Date: 2002-02-19
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 44.9 minutes
Words: ~2,885
As mentioned last week, it’s as if we abide as wanderers seeking to arrive at a particular place and never arriving there. Or we’re patients, we’re ill, and we never actually get better or we never find the medicine that will free us of our sickness. So really we’re dealing now with the second of those two examples. So really we’re afflicted by sickness. And in general regard in general regard physical sickness as the actual sickness, but really here sickness refers to the three poisons.
So that’s attachment, anger and delusion. So these in general we don’t regard as sickness, but they’re the actual sickness. And that is what we need to overcome, we need to develop a medicine for. So, really, we need to overcome the three poisons, which are like a sickness, And we need to find the antidotes of the medicine to apply to this type of sickness. But at present, we don’t recognize the three poisons to be like an illness or a sickness for us.
And in fact, if someone were to ask us, are we sick? We would say, no, I’m not sick. I’m well and so forth. This would be a normal answer, but actually we are afflicted by the three poisons. So then when we investigate what is meant by this term sickness or illness and so on, then it really refers to that which produces some degree of suffering for us or some degree of discomfort, unease, and so on.
And really, this refers here to the three poisons which create this current state that we experience. In general, the term sickness or illness is applied to the body. For instance, we have a headache or our foot is aching or our hand is aching and so on. All of these are to do with the physical basis. And in fact, all the physical ailments that we experience, the bodily ailments, come from the mind itself.
So in fact, where the non virtues come from or where the source in the mind of our current illness is sourced is the three poisons. The three poisons give rise to or motivate karma. And in dependence on karma, we experience various results. So it really is originating in the three poisons. So there therefore, the three poisons are like the three sicknesses: the sickness of attachment, the sickness of anger, the sickness of ignorance.
And in dependence on those three poisons, we have the remaining root afflictions such as jealousy and pride and so forth. And then from there, have the secondary or the proximate afflictions that arise, which are twenty in number. We have the six root afflictions, the twenty proximate afflictions. So really here the central sickness that one is talking about the illness is attachment, anger and ignorance, these three. And here we need to recognize these as being like sickness, although we don’t tend to see them in that way.
In fact, through our own experience, we understand these three poisons to be like an illness. In fact, for instance, when we wander around and we see something attractive and attachment arises to it, then we start to think about ways of by which we could possess that object. Could we buy it? How much it would cost? Do we have enough money?
And we think about it, and attraction to it increases, and the mind is not really settled until we can actually possess that object and so on. And we can see that this process itself is somewhat unsatisfactory. So therefore here the illness is having attachment in the first place, and that attachment actually activates the unease or the unpleasant, the unsatisfactory states that follow. And also with anger and hatred and so on, firstly, there’s it arises. We meet someone.
There’s a conversation, for instance, takes place, and someone says something unpleasant to us. We may retaliate and say something unpleasant back to them, and they retaliate by then saying unpleasant something unpleasant back to us. We say something unpleasant to them, and then we’re both unhappy. We both leave, and we sit down, and we think about this, and we continue to be unhappy. So this is here the poisonous effects of hatred and anger.
So then the third type of poison here is ignorance or delusion. And this type of state is like a confused state of mind or a state of darkness within the mind that it simply doesn’t understand or comprehend what it is or what the object of our awareness is and so forth. So this also is like a sickness. So, therefore, it is just as Geshe Potawa has mentioned, we are like sick people. So therefore, in comprehending the these three states of sickness, that is of ignorance, anger, anger, hatred, attachment, and so forth, then we should seek to free ourselves.
And in freeing ourselves from these states of sickness, one attains liberation. So therefore, we follow, I guess, advice here when he’s he mentions that all sentient beings are like ill people or patients or those suffering sickness who never get well. So in fact, it’s a little bit like that. We need to overcome these three states. And the way we overcome these three states is by comprehending the ultimate state of emptiness.
And understanding emptiness comes about through comprehending that the referent object of ignorance or confusion or, delusion, that referent object doesn’t exist. In understanding it to be nonexistent, one understands emptiness. In order to develop a comprehension of emptiness, we need a vast accumulation of merit. Without having such a vast accumulation, comprehending emptiness is not possible. So therefore, in developing this great accumulation of merit, this vast accumulation of merit, then really the practice of generating bodhicitta, of rejoicing in the merits of oneself and others, and so forth are central practices, supreme practices.
So therefore, as beginners, we need to develop both the aspiration to bodhicitta and rejoicing in the merits of self and others in order to provide a basis for developing this type of comprehension. So we need to meditate on this again and again. So really we need to meditate on this accumulation of merit and dedicate this merit to ourselves attaining the state of highest enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings. So now we’ll meditate on bodhicitta, reflecting that we need to develop we need to actually benefit all sentient beings who are similar to ourselves. The supreme mode of benefiting sentient beings is to attain highest enlightenment or for them to attain highest enlightenment.
So we develop this aspiration for ourselves to generate highest enlightenment in order to benefit these beings, because it’s only in that state that we can actually help other beings on this level. So now we’ll meditate in order to accumulate, generate this root of merit through this motivation and this aspiration. So we’ll meditate this way for a few moments. So now we’re dealing with the section on relying on a spiritual friend. So this is on page two fifty, day seven of the text of Pabongka Rinpoche.
So he’s talking about the reliance on a spiritual friend and the advantages firstly of relying on such a being and then the disadvantages of not relying on such a being. But then firstly, in relying on a spiritual friend, one needs to actually find and discern a qualified spiritual friend. So not simply anyone will do for that. We can’t just find the first person and expect them to be a spiritual friend, to be able to teach the complete path correctly without fault, to be able to guide oneself correctly on that path without mistake, without error, and so on. So then in when investigating a spiritual friend, then one investigates, for instance, firstly, as to whether they’re ordained and whether they’re applying the vows of ordination correctly and so on.
And then also in terms of the tantric practice that they are a holder of the ethics of the mantric vehicle and bodhisattva vehicle and so on. So one investigates whether they qualify, whether they are qualified in that way, and whether they abide by the ethics of those different disciplines. And further, one needs to investigate whether the potential spiritual friend has understanding of the three the three groups of teachings, the baskets of teachings, that is of sūtra, of Vinaya, and tantra and so forth, one needs to investigate whether they are qualified to teach in those different areas. And then one needs to investigate whether they have other requisites such as compassion, whether in fact they have comprehension of the different articles, the different ritual objects that are used in the practice, and then also of the practices and the rituals, ceremonies, and so forth, whether they comprehend how these are conducted. So there are various different methods by which one investigates a potential spiritual friend to see whether they’re qualified or not.
But the main basis of investigation is in terms of whether they qualify as a teacher, the great vehicle, or not. Yep. So here we’re dealing with really from page number two fifty-seven. And that page teaches the advantages of relying on a spiritual friend and the disadvantages of not relying on a spiritual friend.
So these are clear within the text itself. And if one reads through, one can easily comprehend the eight advantages of reliance and the eight disadvantages of not relying. So then moving ahead in the text to the eighth day, then from there we notice there’s a quotation from Maitreya’s Ornament of the Sutras. And this gives some indication of the actual qualities that are required by a specific spiritual friend of the great vehicle. So as it says in this text, on page two seventy two, rely on a spiritual guide who is subdued, pacified, and most pacified.
So he’s subdued refers to the fact that these beings should be well guarded in their actions, not act in any particular way, do anything, that they’re restrained, controlled, and so forth. They’re practicing ethics. Pacified here, means that they’ve attained a pacified mind, that they have, subdued the mind as well, not only their external actions. And most pacified indicates that they’ve comprehended the ultimate, mode of existence that is emptiness or in fact that they’re, approaching an actual comprehension of that state. So as the quote continues, they have more qualities than ourselves, perseverance, the wealth of scripture, realization into suchness, who is a skilled speaker, has love, and has given up disappointment in the disciple’s performance.
So then, initially, they need to have more qualities than the student themselves. Also, have perseverance, meaning that they are able to bear negative conditions and so on. They don’t get impatient. Also, have a wealth of scripture here. It means that they’ve studied much on a very wide basis.
And so they’re a wealth of scriptural knowledge, and they’re able to quote from scripture, give instances, and, definitions and so forth from scripture. Also, it mentions they have realization into suchness, so emptiness. They have insight into emptiness. And also they’re a skilled speaker. Whatever they need to convey to their students, they’re able to do so in a skillful way.
Also, such a being has love or hear compassion so that they have the attitude of compassion focused upon their students, and they give up disappointment. So this makes up ten qualifications in all. And it’s not easy to actually find someone that possesses all of these ten qualities, qualities such as having actual realization into emptiness, being a skilled speaker with compassion and so forth, forbearance. Someone possessing all these qualities is very rare. So these qualifications should be possessed.
And as it mentions in the text that by possessing, being subdued, pacified, and so forth, then they have little mental distraction, and their grasping of itself is pacified and so on. Their qualities exceed those of the students and so forth. They have great perseverance. And in understanding emptiness, they understand the highest presentation of emptiness. And in fact, from among all of these qualities, they should have at least five.
And their mind therefore, affected or qualified by having, a minimum of these five, which is being subdued by the three higher trainings, and having love and compassion and realization of suchness. And also it’s mentioned that a being should have more faults, sorry, more good qualities than faults. And also they should be more concerned about the next life than this life in general. On the other hand So in fact, in brief, one needs to find a qualified master that at least has more good qualities and negative qualities, and is more interested in the practices for future lives than this life. And if not, if one doesn’t actually find such a teacher and instead relies on someone that, doesn’t possess this minimum level of qualities, they may in fact experience an outcome like Angulimala, who found a spiritual friend who was not properly qualified, and therefore, ended up committing many negative actions as a result.
So one needs to very carefully examine initially the qualities of one’s potential spiritual friend, spiritual guide. And one doesn’t want to make a mistake and end up relying on someone that is not qualified and suffer the results of that. So initially, one must properly investigate. On the other hand, the student themselves requires qualifications. And in fact, there are five listed.
They should be honest, not attached to their own group or hostile to other groups. They should have the wisdom to know right from wrong. They should yearn for the teachings, and they should have great respect for their guru. And they should listen with their minds properly directed. So these five aspects should be complete.
They should be honest and not attached to their own particular group and so forth. They should have the wisdom that enables them to discern what is right and what is wrong. They shouldn’t be someone that, is unclear about this or obscured to that. For instance, if their teacher tells them not to do something, they don’t have the wisdom to be able to apply that, then that would not qualify them as a fully qualified disciple. So therefore, they should also have respect for the teacher, and they should listen with their minds properly directed at what is said, that is with proper motivation.
So those five need to be complete for a student. And having those five complete, that that being therefore is qualified to be a student. So then the question arises, well, how does one practice, in, regards to a spiritual friend. So then firstly there is devoting oneself for practicing through one’s thoughts. So that has two subheadings.
The root of the practice is training oneself to have faith in one’s guru. And then the second is remembering his kindness and developing respect for him. So there are these two fundamental aspects of how to practice through one’s thoughts themselves. So then having understood those two headings, then we should contemplate them using both scripture and logic. So therefore by contemplating them using both scripture and logic, we develop a very strong confidence, in these practices.
So therefore, if we meditate on them, we will be very happy and ready to devote ourselves properly to our spiritual guide. And if we don’t meditate, on these two, how we train, in thought to rely on a spiritual friend, then we won’t be happy. We won’t be eager to actually engage in this type of relationship. So that was very important in the beginning to properly contemplate through scripture and logic, the benefits of these practices so that we’re, we’re ready. We’re able to actually engage in such practice.
So then now dealing with the first of the two, which is the training oneself to have faith in one’s teacher. And here there are three headings. So firstly, one develops an attitude of faith in one’s spiritual friend regarding one’s spiritual friend as being a Buddha. And this is extremely important. And then also along with this, developing it, understanding that all sentient beings have been one’s mother in the past, is necessary.
We need to develop that both firstly faith in the spiritual friend as being a Buddha and then understanding all sentient beings to be one’s mother. These two are very difficult to establish, but they it is necessary that one places effort into developing both of these. So it’s very important to meditate with effort on these two points, the fact that one’s spiritual friend is a Buddha and that all sentient beings have been one’s mother. In fact, if we don’t progress in developing these two attitudes, then any progress in the path will be very difficult. So therefore, we must place as much effort as possible into developing both.
So therefore, one needs to take one’s spiritual friend as an actual Buddha, and then also qualify that with contemplating that all sentient beings have been one’s mother. And in bringing these two together, it’s possible to develop the other paths in one’s mental continuum. If in fact these two are not