Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. The slogan “drive all blames into one” anchors this 63-minute session, in which Geshe Pema Tsering works through the Mind Training teaching that every form of suffering traces to a single source: the self-cherishing mind. He traces the causal chain from self-grasping to the dualism of attraction and aversion, to karma and saṃsāra, illustrated by a striking image of the self-cherishing mind as a butcher slaughtering us lifetime after lifetime. Śāntideva’s verse naming the self-cherishing attitude as our oldest and most destructive enemy is then cited and unpacked. An extended Q&A addresses the distinction between conventional and ultimate self, and the two complementary paths for working with self-cherishing — wisdom (searching for the self and finding nothing) and method (cultivating other-cherishing) — closing with Atisha’s counsel: keep your focus long and your actions relaxed, because this work takes lifetimes.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 14 2005 08 08 MT.mp3
UUID: 974ecf43-5892-4b37-a6b7-92cb0e248fe8
Teacher: Geshe Pema Tsering
Collection: Mind Training (Geshe Pema Tsering)
Date: 2005-08-08
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 63.1 minutes
Words: ~5,760
So first of all, can you please take a moment to look at your motivation for listening to the teachings and try and develop the idea that you’re listening to this teaching on the mind training in order to be able to develop your mind in the way that the mind training says, the mind training teachings say, which is that you will be able to use your body as a servant for others, so that you become a servant for all beings, and in doing so, stop following after your own self-cherishing mind. And then by developing these two ideas, be able to become a Bodhisattva, follow the paths to and eventually become a Buddha. Alright. So we’re dealing with a part from the teachings on training the mind that deals with the slogan, drive all blames into one. And the one that we’re driving all the blames into is our self our holding onto an idea of self and holding that idea of self to be more important than all others.
So, it says then that all of the problems, all of the suffering that we have experienced, and all the suffering that’s experienced in the world, anything that we can think of happening in the world, all of these problems, all of this suffering that people experience, all of the causes for suffering that they create, all come about from holding onto this idea of yourself. And not only holding onto an idea of yourself, but holding that self to be more important than others, holding that self to be more more relevant and more important than all other beings combined. So it’s saying if we wanna know where all the problems are, if we wanna know where all of the suffering comes from, then we need to look at this clinging to a self, this idea of a a self being more important than others. And this is this is the source of all the problems. So what’s the point of holding on to that idea?
What’s the point of sustaining this idea that’s causing so much suffering? Mhmm. Alright. So the text also then goes on to say that if you have a sense of self or if you have an idea of, of you, then you’re going to have an idea idea of other. And if you’re holding onto, yourself and thinking about, yourself, then you’re not thinking about others.
So, it’s from It also goes on to say that it’s from this idea of self and other, it’s from this idea of ourselves being more first of all, this idea that we exist as an inherent individual entity, then that we then develop, first of all, an idea of other, and then we develop a relationship with that other. So we think, okay, I like those and I don’t like those. So we have a sense of wanting some things and having aversion for others. And then based on that wanting some, on those two ideas of wanting something and having an aversion to others, we then go on to create lots of negative and positive karma that all keeps that keep us in Samsāra. So it starts with this idea of a me me and then based on that idea of self we develop the idea of other, and then based on the idea of other, self and other, we create karma that tries to keep us close to some and far from others.
If we’re able to get rid of this idea then of an individual inherent self that is the basis for all of these thoughts, is the basis for all of the activities, then we would be separated from all of the causes of suffering, all of the destructive emotions that that cause suffering in this way. Mhmm. Mhmm. Mhmm. Uh-huh.
Mhmm. So what we need to understand then, as the next quote in this series goes, is that all of the faults that we experience come from us. All of the problems that we experience we create for ourselves. All of the qualities that we could possibly develop and the good karma that we could possibly accumulate comes about through others, mainly by dependence on others, by doing good things for others or having them show us how to do good things. So, we need to know this and in knowing that, then that leads us that will lead us to want to abandon this self-cherishing mind.
The opposite of that that says that all good things come from us and all negative things come from others. All of the problems come from other people and we don’t have any responsibility for any problems. So, if we’re able to develop an understanding of where faults come from and where happiness comes from, then we’re not going to wanna hold on to ourself as being the most important thing, and we’re gonna want to meditate or familiarize ourself with the thought to benefit others, to work for others. Mhmm. Mhmm.
Uh-huh. Mhmm. Mhmm. Mhmm. Mhmm.
Mhmm. Mhmm. Mhmm. Mhmm. Mhmm.
Mhmm. Uh-huh. Mhmm. Mhmm. Alright.
So then we need to know how this happened. So, we need to figure out how it is that all of the suffering that we experience and all this suffering that exists in the world comes about from this idea of a self or holding on to this idea of a self. So, all of the misdeeds, although it says the ocean of misdeeds and the faults that we experience, the results of faults that we experience as suffering. These all come about because we hold on to this idea of an independent autonomous self. Independent, permanent, autonomous self that doesn’t change.
And we’ve ascribed this self to a situation where there was no self, since beginningless time. Sorry. I was just a bit worried because there’s this word in Tibetan that indicates a specific type of self that we really don’t have a word for in English. And I kept saying self, self, self, and then not really explaining what that word was and it’s better that I ask Geshe-la to explain than we’ve kind of come up with mistakes by myself. So, he said that what we’re talking about here in terms of a self, when we use the word self in this context, it means that we experience a sense of being and we transform that sense of being into a personal identity that we don’t If we watch the way that our mind works, we don’t see that being as being being as a con a conglomeration of things that is dependent on other circumstances.
We see that being as being an independent individual identity that isn’t necessarily connected to anything else. That’s the way that we view ourselves. So, when we say there is no self here, we’re saying there’s no that type of self. We’re not saying that there isn’t any being that’s existing. It’s just that that being that’s existing is something that we’ve labeled or something that we’ve we have created by saying, the combination of all those things together is me.
And we label it me. And there is that label self. There is that nominal self, but it isn’t It doesn’t exist in the way that we relate to it as existing. So what we’ve done is mistaken reality and reified it so that are dealing with solid individual things instead of a combination of causes and conditions and this is the mistake that we’ve made. So we’ve made this mistake since beginningless time.
Says. Since time without beginning, we’ve gone around with this idea that we exist as an individual and based on that mistake that we exist as an individual without any that doesn’t change, that is unassociated from other beings and other causes and conditions, we then create karma. And this karma that we do, the things that we do based on that mistaken idea is what keeps us in saṃsāra and what keeps us going from one rebirth to another. Sometimes we’ve been born in hell like states and we’ve held onto this idea of a self then, with other times we’ve been born in heavens, other times we’ve been born as animals, other times we’ve been born as spirits, and sometimes as humans, and each of these rebirths we’ve held really tightly onto this sense of me. And it’s that sense of me that drives us to commit acts that keep us in saṃsāra.
So, since beginningless time, since we’ve been holding onto this idea of self, then we also start doing this thing where we think, okay, I don’t want that and I do want that. And in order to get what we want and to get away from what we don’t want, we do a whole bunch of stuff that creates that creates karma. karma is the actions we do in order to keep away from some things and to get other things. And it’s that that perpetuates our experience in Samsāra. And that’s why they’re called the This idea of working towards some things and getting away from others are called the two Oh, they’re not called the two.
Sorry. They’re the two things that are called obscurations, the things that stop us from truly experiencing happiness, that we create we do things that stop us experiencing happiness based on that dualism of wanting some things and not wanting others. Thanks. Mhmm. Mhmm.
Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Mhmm. Uh-oh. Mhmm.
Mhmm. Mhmm. So then once we’ve we’re working on this idea that we want to get away from some experiences in some people, and we want to hold on to some experiences in other people. And we said about doing whatever it takes to make that situation come about. And this usually involves said there’s these three things.
The first thing is hiding our hiding the cause of our problems from ourself, and then the second one is hang on. Forgot that. I’ve got them on the wrong way. Okay. Yes.
Okay. Sorry. I’ve gotten around the wrong way. The first one is blaming everybody else for our problems. Right?
And then the second thing is not letting anyone else see that we’ve done anything. Yeah? So not recognizing that we’ve done something ourselves, and then from saying it wasn’t me, then saying it’s someone else. It must be someone else. I’m not responsible for any of this.
So this this process where we hide things from others actually involves hiding them from ourselves as well, that we don’t recognize that we’ve done anything. And even if we slightly do, then we quickly blame others. Alright? So there’s this process of not recognizing we’ve done anything, and then blaming everybody else for everything that happens to us, and then also we go on to have disdain for others for causing all our problems. So these three things, these three this process of first of all, it’s every it’s everybody else’s fault.
There’s nothing wrong with me, and I’m not gonna like anyone else because they caused all these problems for me. That’s that’s the process of the three things. And based on that misconception of the of reality, we then develop all these negative states. Alright? We think, okay, I have to do this and this and this to protect myself and to hurt others, to stop them from hurting me, and we create all this negative karma based on that perception.
And we’ve been doing that for forever. Unless we recognize we’re doing it and we stop creating karma in that way, we will keep doing it forever. But if we have the ability to see what it is that’s causing this, that it is this holding onto this sense of me and me being more important than anyone else, then we have the ability to fix that. So all of the suffering that we have experienced in the past, all of the suffering that we’re experiencing now, and all suffering that we will continue to experience in the future if we don’t figure out what we’re doing is wrong, is caused by this sense of self, by this idea that there is a me, I’m more important than them, and I’m gonna go through all these things in order to stop this me experiencing suffering and make it experience happiness because I’m more important than anyone else. So that sense is the the cause for all of the suffering that anyone has ever experienced.
Mhmm. Mhmm. Mhmm. Mhmm. So we’ve experienced all these different sufferings that are countless in the the the different lower realms as well as the upper realms of saṃsāra.
So the the hell realms, the spirit realms, the animal realms, as well as as a human and in the in the Deva realms. And all of this suffering that we’ve experienced, and we’ve been doing it for eons, we’ve been experiencing all of these different changes and sorry, the suffering and things that change into suffering even if they start off as happiness. We’ve experienced this suffering forever, but not only have we experienced it, we’ve worked really hard to experience it. So, we’ve been working really hard to create situations where we suffer. So, based on this idea that we’re gonna make ourselves happy, based on this mistaken idea that we’re gonna make ourselves happy by being selfish, by being by not thinking of others and putting ourselves first, then we’ve put in a lot of effort.
And the only thing we’ve got from all of our effort, for all of these eons, is suffering. So, what we’ve been doing based on this mistake is working really hard to make ourselves miserable miserable, and we haven’t done because all of it has been based on this idea of me and my importance, then we’re not doing much to actually really make ourselves happy. Mhmm. Mhmm. Mhmm.
Mhmm. Mhmm. Mhmm. And not only that, but until we are able to recognize that it is this self-cherishing mind that is actually the cause of all of our suffering, that it’s the self-cherishing mind that is our enemy, until we’re able to recognize that we’re going to continue to create suffering for ourselves. We’re going to continue in the same way as we have in the past to accumulate negative karma and therefore have to perpetuate the cycle of saṃsāra without respite experiencing all sorts of suffering, even more so than we have in the past if we don’t do anything about our selfishness.
And because there is no end to saṃsāra without having an end to this sense of self importance and self-cherishing mind that ignores others. So we will continue, it says, living and wandering in saṃsāra without any respite for suffering for all of the three times, unless we can recognize that the real source of our problems is our self importance, our selfish mind, and that we are able to develop the understanding that this is what’s happening happening in all aspects of our life. Mhmm. Mhmm. No.
Mhmm. Uh-huh. Mhmm. So what we need to come to understand is that since beginningless time or since time immemorial, there has immemorial. Sorry.
This self-cherishing of ours has behaved like a butcher in that it keeps or an app what do you a butcher like what butchers used to do in actually killing things. Yeah? Yeah. So it just keeps killing us. Lifetime after a lifetime after lifetime, we keep getting creating the causes to experience birth and death, birth and death, and birth and death.
And the and the thing that’s responsible for this process of birth and death and birth and death is our self-cherishing attitude, our idea of a self that can keep causes us to create all this karma that causes us to be reborn and die and reborn and die and reborn and die. So in this way, our self-cherishing attitude is like a butcher that keeps slaying us. Alright. Butchers don’t slay people anymore, do they? Oh, okay.
Okay. Yeah. No. It’s just that this the the this term refers to, like, you know, butchers in other countries where they go through the whole process. Right?
They slaughter them and chop them up and then sell them. Right? So we’ve just delegated the karma here. Anyway, so so, yeah, this self-cherishing attitude is like the the the the the this like our slaughterer and our butcher, and it chops us up and puts us in the same place, and then we go through the same process again and again and again and again. And we’ve done this so many times that that the meat from the bodies that we’ve lived in in the past would would fill universes.
So so in this way it’s a nice picture. So in this way, we in this way, need to be aware of who the real enemy is. If we had someone that was our enemy, that was our opponent, we’d be constantly aware of what they’re up to. We would be thinking, okay, what are they trying to pull on me now? What are they doing?
Yeah? So this is the way we need to relate to our self-cherishing mind. We need to be thinking, what’s it up to? What’s it want? What what what’s it doing now to try and make everything alright for itself at the expense of others?
I mean, we need to have the same awareness of our self-cherishing mind as we would to someone who was trying to kill us. If someone knew someone was trying to kill us, if we knew someone was trying to assassinate us assassinate us, we would be constantly focused on what they were doing. And it’s the same attitude we need to bring to our selfishness because it’s our selfishness that creates our suffering. It’s our selfishness that creates this this this slaughter or this this death every hundred years or so. Mhmm.
Mhmm. Mhmm. Mhmm. Mhmm. Mhmm.
Mhmm. Mhmm. Mhmm. Mhmm. Mhmm.
Mhmm. Mhmm. But but the problem with this enemy that we’re dealing with here isn’t some isn’t is that it’s not something that we can look at externally. It’s not something that we can focus on as an external object, and that makes it makes it harder to catch. That makes it harder to keep an eye on.
Because our real enemy, the cause of all of our suffering is actually in our own minds, is actually in our own hearts. It’s this grasping itself, this selfish idea that creates all of our suffering and it’s much more difficult to focus on or recognize an enemy when it’s within as opposed to one that’s without, that we can see, that we can probably recognize more clearly. But it’s this sense of self or this selfishness, this idea of a me that’s more important than others or this idea of a me that then becomes more important than others that is the cause of all of our problems. And this is why the Indian saint Śāntideva said oh, something very difficult to translate. Okay.
He said, If we Okay. Watch me. Yes. I’ll just make a big mess of oh. Oh.
Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Okay. So to save me from massacring really nice poetry, Geshe-la has said, just say what it means. So, he said that if we wanna know who our oldest enemy is, our unceasing, destructive, oldest enemy is, the cause of all of our problems, the source of all of our sufferings, than it is this holding onto an idea of the permanent individual important self as being certain, as being real.
With this self, with this idea of self, with this idea of self importance, there is only saṃsāra and because of this, there is no true happiness. What this means is that in order for us to experience true happiness, in order for us to experience happiness that doesn’t change, that we can rely on, that actually leads to more happiness as opposed to suffering, then we need to have liberated ourselves from Samsāra or attained to complete Buddhahood. The only way to do this is to get over this idea of a self, to get past this idea of a self. In this way, there is no true happiness in saṃsāra, and there’s no true happiness as long as we hold on to that idea of a permanent, intrinsically intrinsically existent independent self. Oh.
Yeah. So we Oh. Oh, So we can stop there for today because of the time being up, and if you have any questions. Yes, here. Mhmm.
Totally exist. Sounds like a plural, not a self. The self that exists and the self that doesn’t exist. Is that what you’re saying? Yeah.
Sounds like, you know, it’s for the for one self. Why? There is a self, but, ultimately, there isn’t a self. So if it’s not something doesn’t exist, it’s not plural. Uh-huh.
Guess I said, what did he say? I’m like, I’m not quite sure. Okay. I’m just gonna say exactly what you said. Alright?
And if it makes sense to then good. Because I don’t know. I’m not sure it made sense to me. You didn’t understand. Well, vaguely.
I understood the bit what’s going on. I understood that. Okay. Vaguely. Uh-huh.
Guess who said, yes. That makes sense. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Mhmm.
Mhmm. Okay. So Geshe-la said that there are many selves because every single being has a sense of self. Every sense is every single sentient being has a sense of self. So in terms of many beings, yes.
Right? But what the I the thing is that the self that we’re saying exists hang on. The sorry. This is the do hang on. The way the Buddha said the self exists is only as a convention.
It’s only as a label. It’s only as a oh, that whole bunch of things together I’m gonna call you or I’m gonna call me. Yeah? Oh, that bunch of causes and conditions that comes together, I’m gonna call you, and I’m gonna call this one me. Yeah?
So if we get past that and we can see that there only is a bunch of things come together where we put a label on, then that’s seeing the lack of self. But it doesn’t negate the convention of self. Alright? That’s saying that the combination of all those things coming together is is you or is me. Doesn’t negate the conventional use of the term self.
It negates the ultimate existence of that self. So there is many selves in terms of there being many sentient beings, but in each individual person doesn’t have many selves. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Uh-huh.
So this the sense of self can change a lot. So We have like one mental continuum that experiences this idea of self, and one day there may be one self like I am this today, and I am that tomorrow, and I am maybe this in one lifetime, and that in another. So, there’s different moments of mind that may experience a self in a different way, but there is this constant continuum of mind that holds on to a sense of self. And that means that each of those continuums in the mental continuum, yeah, if they hold on to a sense of self, then there’s only one continuum for each being. Do you mean lots of people being asked, like like a different multiple personality, or do you talking about a lot of selfishness?
Okay. I forgot thinking he was gonna finish. The sense of self that we have is a little more subtle or a lot more subtle than the sense of self that you were talking about. Yeah? So it’s basically each individual has a mental continuum, yeah, and the basis, the the projecting energy of that mental continuum at the moment is this idea of self.
Alright? So it’s not so much saying, oh, I’m not really like that. I don’t really get angry, but I got angry, so that was another me. Yeah? It’s not about that.
It’s something much more subtle than that. It’s a very, very subtle mind that holds onto this idea of a self, and it’s so subtle that that’s why it’s difficult to get rid of. Alright? So what’s basically happening is that we have a subtle misapprehension, or we’ve made a subtle mistake about the way things are. Alright?
So that things appear to us very subtly as being existent and including ourselves. Right? And that is this mistake that we’ve made. And the only way that we can get over that mistake is to recognize that we’ve turned a convention into a reality. The convention is that we see all these things happening at the same time when we go, okay, that’s that, that’s me, or that’s you.
But we’ve taken conventional way of dealing with information and said, okay, that’s real. That’s that’s this is me and that’s you. Yeah? So the only way that we can get over that mis there’s there’s two ways that, sorry, that we can look at getting over that misapprehension. That is one, to realize the lack of that self, and the other, to recognize that we’ve turned a convention into a solid reality.
Yeah? So, we can either look at the lack of that self or we can look at the nature of that convention to come to that understanding. It’s two ways of looking at it. But the only way we can really understand the way things are as opposed to our subtle misapprehension that’s led us to this mistake so far, is to develop an insight into emptiness, to develop the conditions to become a Buddha. Yeah?
So we don’t develop a real understanding of what what this clinging to a self is until we see the lack of it, and we don’t develop that lack. We don’t understand that lack until we realize emptiness. Yeah? So for us to say, okay, is it this type of self that we’re talking about or is that that or is to extrapolate on something that’s very subtle and very difficult to realize. Yeah?
Hillary’s got two hands up. I’ve got it I’ve got it. I’m I’m again. Oh. Oh, it’s oh, I was like, guess that please go and tell him I’m sorry.
Because I used to look after this really old man that used to be in charge of the of NATO. Alright? The whole thing. The the admiral of the fleet, the lord Hill Norton. Alright?
Looks used to look after NATO, and when he was eighty four and shuffling around his house, he’d go, when I was an important person, people used to listen to me all the time, and he was in his house, and he only heard me going, whatever. Yeah? So, and I said, see, can I tell them that story? Geshe-la said, yes. But you also have to say that even if you were the most important person in the world, if you started looking for that person, you couldn’t find it.
If you said, where is it? Is it my mind? Is this important person that I’m seeing myself as in my mind? And you couldn’t find it in your mind. Which moment of your mind is it?
Is it in your body? Is there something about your body that makes you important? What happens when your body dies? Where does the importance go there? So the answer to it is that even if you are seen as an important person, that’s only a convention because there is no you.
Uh-huh. So Geshe-la said the only way that his holiness’s role, the only way that his holiness’s activities become important is when people say they are. Yeah. So that in this way, it’s still this idea of it being a convention. It’s still an idea of a label that we put onto something and go, okay, that’s important, and that’s not.
But if we start looking for an inherent thing there that is important, there’s nothing there. It disappears. So anything that makes His Holiness’s role important is because people say it’s important. Yeah? If no one recognizes it as being important, it wouldn’t be.
Yes? Can I ask a question? You? You were talking about your child’s mind. Uh-huh.
Because of that? Mhmm. Uh-huh. In your mind, you know what I’m saying? I know what Geshe-la’s saying.
Yeah. My number says Uh-huh. But how is and especially now I wish them asking them why Because Tibetans are so selfless. Duh. Yeah.
Yeah. Don’t know. You got it wrong. That’s alright. Yeah.
In our world, how do we yeah. Yes. Okay. It’s the mind. I understand it.
It’s the mind. Mhmm. Mhmm. Understand. So so you wanna know how to revert Okay.
Okay. Uh-huh. Mhmm. Mhmm. Mhmm.
Alright. Okay. So according to Buddhism, the way you do this is by using your mind to change your mind, by using what’s called discrimination. Alright? So recognizing what you’re thinking, come to learn to recognize what you’re thinking, and then because the mind is so malleable, change the way you think.
Yeah? So recognize the way you’re doing something and then change the way you think. So the ways that are ascribed to change the mind are said to be of two types. There’s one that’s called wisdom and there’s one that’s called method. So the ways that you work with your mind that are according to the wisdom way, yeah, is to recognize, like we were saying before, the lack of self in things.
So if you find yourself doing something for about you, you go, okay, it’s more I’m really important. Right? I need to do this because I need to protect myself even if it means harming others. In that instance, then you would think in that instance, then you would think, who is this me that I’m doing this for? And start searching for the for the you, and and try and find where you exist in your body, and then try and find where you exist in your mind, and you can’t find anyone.
Alright? So, it’s just you come to understand that this is this conglomeration of things that’s you’ve labeled you. Yeah? And that’s the wisdom method. And then, there’s also what’s called the method method.
Oh, yeah. The the the So you have wisdom and methods. So the method side, that means developing this idea of other cherishing. So what we have instinctually is the idea of self-cherishing, and we wanna change that around so that we are other cherishing. Yeah?
And so the way that we do that is every time we have this sense of I’m more important than others, then we remind ourselves of how the source of all the suffering that you’ve ever experienced is that thought, and the source of all the happiness that you’ve ever experienced has come from others. It’s been because they’ve done something for you or they’ve given you the opportunity to create positive merit by showing compassion, by being selfless, by helping others. Alright? So if you remind yourself of those two things, then that’s the way to deal with it from the method perspective. So those two paths, wisdom and method, are actually the the entire Buddhist path is within those two scopes, within those two different ways of looking at things.
Is it either you’re looking at it from the wisdom point of view or the what to do point of view? So that’s the entire Buddhist scope of how to change your mind. And the essence of Buddhism is how to learn to change your mind. So what you’re talking about is the Buddhist path, how to change your mind. Yeah.
Because the mind does everything. Yes. Oh, Geshe-la said he doesn’t agree with the bit where he said the mind is the same. He said, because the mind is constantly changing. And we because we have the Oh.
Because the way that the mind works is that it’s a stream. That’s why we call it like a mental stream. So it it keeps going in the same way, but you can change it. So he said that he doesn’t agree that it’s static. It changes all the time.
Yeah. Thank you. Last question. I gonna say, it’s not easy to do. Mhmm.
I mean, I’ve gone whole weeks at a time when negativity has come into my mind thinking replace it with patience. Replace it with patience. Whole weeks. Yeah. And then See, this is the Western thing.
Think about something else. But it’s very hard. He said, of course, it’s hard. That’s why there aren’t that many Buddhas. Oh, no.
No. Hang on. Of course, it’s hard. Sorry. He didn’t say there there aren’t many Buddhas around.
Why we can’t Many people are trying to work on their mind, but not all of them become Buddhas. He didn’t say there’s not that many Buddhas. I got that wrong. He said there’s not that many people that are able to do it. Oh, Buddhist.
Oh, but don’t expect it to two or three weeks. He said it takes lifetimes. Yeah. Oh. So Geshe-la said he became a monk at seven.
He’s now sixty five, and he’s still working at it. It. Oh, yeah. So so I used to say it’s not easy, but it is possible, and even if you do this for a few weeks, you’ll see the change. You’ll see the way that your mind is affected, and he said that so he he may have been working on it since he was seven, but he knows that his mind is different now, and then next next lifetime, he hopes it to be more subtle and have more of an understanding.
So it’s something that you work at over lifetimes, but you can see the results of it quite quickly. You just have to keep working at it. Uh-huh. Mhmm. So in Atisha’s mind training text, he said, keep your focus long and your your actions relaxed.
So what that means is focus on Buddhahood and and relax because it’s such a long way away, you’ve gotta pace yourself. Yeah. But keep at it.