Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. A student’s question — whether mindfulness has any relationship to emptiness — anchors this 32-minute Q&A with Geshe Pema Tsering. His answer turns on realization: ordinary practitioners cannot establish that connection because they have no familiarity with emptiness as an object; once genuine understanding is cultivated through study, mindfulness of emptiness becomes possible, its three characteristics — familiarity, non-forgetting, non-distraction — each mapping to that object. He also separates mindfulness from guarding alertness (alertness monitors whether afflictive emotions are arising; mindfulness prevents them from taking hold), addresses why hell contains more beings than any other realm (reflecting how rarely sentient beings engage in virtue), and closes with a sharp exchange on whether mindfulness itself is truly established. Suited to students with some prior grounding in mind-and-mental-factors teachings.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 15 2006 11 23 M and MF QnA.mp3
UUID: 12bed696-1baf-4c9b-b36f-2d500761fca9
Teacher: Geshe Pema Tsering
Collection: Mind & Mental Factors (Geshe Pema Tsering)
Date: 2006-11-23
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 31.9 minutes
Words: ~1,990
I don’t know. Some people prefer to translate that word as introspection. I am used to to which has been translated as guarding alertness or alertness, which is another mental factor. So then, guarding alertness is the mental factor, which is watching over the mind, where where the mind is at. So if it is at at something, as a virtue, then we we keep at it with with mindfulness then.
And if it is then if it is something that is not good, then we don’t don’t doesn’t allow the mindfulness to be there, to hold it. You heard well, I probably heard there was a teaching on on Tuesday about that on on way of life way of life. There was a month ago or so. There was a long teaching about that. It was nice.
So then so then, again, is one one needs both of them, mindfulness and guarding alertness, and alertness. So then alertness is is watching what is happening in the mind, if the the afflictive emotions are coming or not, and and mindfulness is the one that’s going to stop from the emotions to come about, to enter the mind. Okay. I have a question. Just a few questions.
A sec. Very simple. Not that simple. No. Very simple.
Very simple. In Tibetan, it’s not that simple. Awareness is usually translated to knowing That’s that’s what I’m thinking about. Because awareness the only word I know for awareness is in Tibetan. It’s zikpa.
Zikpa. Zikpa. Zikpa. Zikpa. But What was it?
Mindfulness. We just had a teaching of mindfulness. So then, look, is this I don’t we we have according to the what is written there, you have what mindfulness is. I don’t know what you think awareness is, but then if you look at the meaning of mindfulness, maybe you can distinguish what is mindfulness for Buddhists and what is that awareness that’s whatever whatever it is that you call awareness. Okay?
Now if I translate awareness as rigpa, rigpa just means consciousness. Okay? Just means mind. Okay? And and and mindfulness is an aspect of that mind.
Mindfulness is an aspect of mind. Is that making sense? Yeah. Consciousness. Of consciousness.
Yeah. Of mind mind is I always when I say mind, I say it’s it’s abbreviation of main mind, yeah, which is consciousness. Yeah. And that’s what we’re doing. To different aspects.
Yeah. The mental factors. So then so then, in in a logical way, so then, mindfulness is consciousness. Okay? Mindfulness is mind.
Mindfulness is awareness, if you want to call it that. But it is not the case that every mind or every awareness or every consciousness is mindfulness. Do you understand? So the pervasion of awareness of mind is is much larger than the pervasion of mindfulness. Okay?
I think it’s a question of definition. Sometimes we use the word awareness in a similar way to mind. Exactly. Exactly. That’s my point.
Exactly. Definition of it in these teachings. No. It’s you you could. You can we don’t use in English.
We we hardly ever use the word awareness in this context here. So you can you can do it if you want. But, you know, it’s up to to hear to to he knows what what is it that he means for awareness. It’s up for him to decide. Okay?
Just just ask I would just ask if anybody else has another question, and if they do not have, then you ask another one. Okay? Does anybody else would like to ask another question? You want to let Hiro ask another one? Please.
So the according to the objective feature and the aspect feature and the functional feature. Yes. No. I’m talking about. No.
Do you understand what feature is? Yeah? Feature is a character. Yeah? Characteristic?
Characteristic. Okay. Characteristic of something. Right? Analogy of pizza.
He’s analogy of pizza in a bit of a different context. Okay? These three features are features of mindfulness. A feature of mindfulness. Okay?
Mindfulness is the one recognizing the, you know, the pizza. No. No. This context, talking about the Whose mind? You know, according to the the mindfulness, but mindfulness is the one actual point of the understand recognizing the emptiness.
That’s what Sorry, Hiro. If I could translate — a hint or clue? That’s that’s what it is? Is that a question? I can ask that.
Say what you want to ask? No. No. No. My question is, these things are characteristics of mindfulness.
Okay? You you are tall, you have black hair, and you’re wearing a brown shirt. Those are characteristics of Hiro. Those characteristics are characteristics of mindfulness. Okay.
Let me ask you. That’s that is what mindfulness is. Without familiarity with the object, you cannot have mindfulness. Without non forgetfulness, you cannot have mindfulness. Okay?
The and without the function of what is that? What is the function again? I forgot what the function is. Distraction. Nondistraction.
Yes. I don’t have any mind. Distracted. Again, without nondistraction, again, you don’t have mindfulness. Those are features, characteristics of mindfulness.
Okay. Let me ask my question in a different way. Try it. Yes. Mhmm.
So then these three characteristics, these things, which is objective feature, the aspect feature, the function feature. Yes. Characteristics of mindfulness. Those three things I don’t understand what you are saying, Hiro. But Mindfulness doesn’t exist inherently because it has parts.
Because it has characteristics. We’re not talking about its parts. We’re talking about characteristics. Characteristics are hard. There we go.
Yes. Well, see, Joe is just saying that they are. They are. Yes. Yes.
You you’re they are. Aren’t you? I’m assuming. Yes. That’s true.
I’m just I’m just trying I will ask if the three characteristics of mindfulness have any relationship with emptiness. Okay? That’s that’s the same question. Beautiful. There is no relationship.
Thank you. So then those three characteristics of mindfulness, they do not have a relationship with emptiness, but one can make a relationship if one is having mindfulness of the realization of emptiness. If one is mindful of the mind that the conscious that realizes emptiness, then there is a relationship. A relationship can be established in that there is going to be that objective feature, which is that the mind is going to be familiar with the subject, which is with the object, which is emptiness. Secondly, there is the subjective aspect feature, is that the mind which is mindful of emptiness, won’t be forgetting the object, which is emptiness.
And there will be that function of feature again, which is that the mind won’t be allowed to be distracted from its object of observation, which is emptiness. Making sense? So then so then we all we, you and me and everybody here in this room, we all have many different kinds of mindfulness, of many different kinds of objects. But because we have no realization of emptiness whatsoever, we do not have mindfulness of emptiness. Okay?
So for us, there is no relationship to be established between our mindfulness and the realization of emptiness. Okay? So then there is so suddenly, there’s mindfulness of the realization of emptiness. There is mindfulness of pizza. Mhmm.
There’s mindfulness of car. Mhmm. Right? There’s mindfulness of every phenomenon. For every phenomenon, there is mindfulness.
Okay? So there is mindfulness for every phenomena. Various. So then we’re talking about familiarity with the object. Object refers here to every phenomena, any phenomena.
That is that is correct. There is no connection for us because we have not realized emptiness. Right? We are not familiar with the object, which is emptiness. So us, there’s no connection to be established.
Yeah. Right? But connection between these three things and the emptiness is depend on our experience. Depends on our having knowledge and Knowledge. Proper understanding of what emptiness is.
Okay? So if we know what emptiness is, have solid knowledge, then we can have then we can make the connection. Okay? Familiarity. The whole idea of Geshe-la has been telling us that we have to have familiarity with the object.
That is, we have study I was just just telling us we have to study. That means we have to study. We have to study. We have to discuss with each other. We have to study about emptiness.
What is emptiness? And we study again and again. And then we gain familiarity. We go beyond our doubts, and we gain familiarity with the object. And then having gained familiarity with the object, and then we can cultivate mindfulness of that object, of emptiness.
Geshe-la just told us that, didn’t he? It’s a way to gain experience. Yes. Yeah. This is what Geshe-la told us right now, isn’t it?
We to study to get familiarity, experience of the object. Right? Experience, familiarity, you know, same thing. Just words, but the meaning is the same. You know?
So the So then, yeah, we must we must study. We must attain realization of the object. We must perceive the object through inference or directly or whatever, and then we get the familiarity, And then and then we are mind we can develop mindfulness of it. That helps? It’s always good to help.
Bring it on. Yeah. Of the six realms, you mean okay. Hell, hungry ghosts Uh-huh. The bardo.
And the bardo. Come and go. Or in your house? Where is most numerous sentient beings? In your house? So then this is a teaching that you usually find around precious human rebirth or the sufferings, the specific sufferings of cyclic existence.
But I think it’s usually in the in the yeah. The the difficulties of of of attaining a precious human rebirth by by is amplification by means of numbers. Right? So there is a teaching on that. And guess what was saying?
So then, generally, in the teachings, you you we are told that there are more sentient beings in the three lower realms of existence than in the three higher realms of existence, in the happy realms of existence. And of the three lower realms of existence, the hell realms, the pretas, and the animal realm, then there are more sentient beings in the hell realms, and it goes progressively in this way. There are less and less sentient beings. God realm. Yes.
And more in the human. So it’s the least in the god realm. Yeah. The gods. The higher the gods the god realm, the the least you’ll find.
Usually, in the text, you will find something like that in the precious human rebirth. It’s yeah. It’s scary. It’s scary, actually. That’s because because that that is a reflection of the fact that there are very few beings who engage in virtue.
Most beings engage in non virtue. And then because of that, you have these numbers. This is scary numbers. It’s what it is. Okay?
You happy with it, You want to ask one more question before goes to India? I would like to ask a question. Is mindfulness No. No. I didn’t offer it to you.
No. No. No. I’m not asking you, Rodrigo. Well, then ask.
Bring it on. So does mindfulness exist? So then if it exists, does it exist does it exist as as truly established? So then if I translate what you said, and finally we’re going to understand each other, Geshe-la says that what you said is correct because it has three characteristics, and it is empty. It is not truly established.
So then because it is it’s something which with these three characteristics, it is consciousness. If it is consciousness, it is an existent. If it is an existent, then it’s it’s it’s necessarily not really existent. Okay. We should be there ten ten thirty, but his plane leaves around one o’clock.
Thirty. Yeah. Being there at ten thirty. Yeah. Yeah.
Okay.