Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 77-minute public talk, Geshe Pema Tsering builds his case for loving kindness and compassion around a striking asymmetry: self-cherishing arises effortlessly and without any meditation, while loving kindness must be deliberately cultivated. He explains what each mind actually is, why every religion regards them as central, and precisely how self-cherishing blocks their development. The “all beings as mother” meditation is then unpacked along two tracks — past-lives reasoning, and for those who don’t accept rebirth, evidence from this life alone, with Geshe-la reflecting at sixty on how every meal, garment, and education depended on others’ effort. A mother bird killing insects to feed her chicks illustrates how beings incur suffering on our behalf. He closes by distinguishing analytical from single-pointed meditation and explaining why beginners must work through analytical practice first.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 05 PT 2006 01 14.mp3
UUID: 7ca0fc7c-aa03-4841-9099-85c30b4f2741
Teacher: Geshe Pema Tsering
Collection: Public Talks (Geshe Pema Tsering)
Date: 2006-01-14
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 76.8 minutes
Words: ~3,954
So then now, Geshe-la was asked to give a teaching on loving kindness and compassion. And so Geshe-la is saying, so these two minds of loving kindness and compassion, they are very important. And Geshe-la is saying that we do not have accomplished both of these minds, but we do have, how do you say, the seeds of loving kindness and compassion within ourselves. So furthermore, Geshe-la is saying that both loving kindness and compassion are regarded as very important by all the religions there are. So then I’m saying that why is it why is why are they so important?
Why are they both regarded so highly by every religion that is? Because every every religion the main the essence of every religion is is is is the teaching, is the wish to to that all sentient beings, that all human beings and all other sentient beings have happiness. And then the main cause for for the accomplishment of this happiness for us sentient beings is both loving kindness and compassion. So then further Geshe-la is saying is telling us that if one brings to perfection both loving kindness and compassion, then one will achieve enlightenment, the enlightenment of a Buddha. And as long as one does not bring to perfection, to ultimate fruition both loving kindness and compassion, then one will not achieve the state of a Buddha, or one will not not achieve enlightenment.
So then Geshe-la is saying that even though we do not have fully developed loving kindness and compassion, we do have the seeds or the roots of both loving kindness and compassion. Then what are loving kindness and compassion? Loving kindness is that mind that thinks that wishes to endow all sentient beings with happiness and its causes. And then compassion is that mind that wishes to relieve all sentient beings from suffering and the cause of suffering. And and the the the arrival of an uncontrived mind, a nonfabricated mind that wishes to accomplish all sentient beings’ happiness and to relieve all sentient beings’ suffering is that is that loving kindness and compassion brought to perfection.
So then, again, again, I said that we we do have this this minds of loving kindness and compassion, that mind that wishes all sentient being all sentient beings to have happiness and be free from suffering. We have these minds, but they’re not uncontrived. And why? So we we all have to to fabricate it. We have to to by the force of meditation.
So why is that that we not have this minds, this two uncontrived minds within our mind streams? Because we have self-cherishing. It’s because we yeah. Because we have a mind that cherishes one self, that’s thinks of one self as more important than others. So what is what is that mind that self-cherishing what is that self-cherishing thought?
What is that self-cherishing attitude? So this self-cherishing mind is is a is a mind that wishes to accomplish happiness only for oneself, and the wishes to have let’s say, to eliminate suffering only in relation to oneself. It’s not concerned with others. So because of having this mind that is concerned only exclusively with oneself, then both both minds of loving kindness and compassion cannot come about, cannot arise. So then, Geshe-la is saying that that mind that that self-cherishing mind, that self-cherishing attitude is a mind that we do not have to to meditate on it, to forcefully create it in order to bring it to our mind streams.
It comes naturally. It is totally uncontrived already. So then, again again, I was saying, we we do not have to meditate on this on this on this self-cherishing mind. We do not have to to fabricate it. It comes naturally at all times, every time, every moment.
It comes up. It is there naturally. And from and from that mind, with that attitude, with that attitude, we engage in all other activities, our daily activities, whatever activities there are. So then so then Geshe-la is explaining now. So he’s saying, again, we have this this self-cherishing attitude that is concerned only with attaining happiness for oneself and avoiding suffering only in relation to oneself.
And we are always at all times, we are we are meditating. We are we are giving rise to this mind, to the self-cherishing mind. And then and we think that that we can accomplish something through this mind. But then Geshe-la is explaining that, in fact, this mind is a wrong is what is called a mistaken appearance. Because, in fact, since beginningless time, through all our rebirths, we have we have had this mind of self-cherishing.
We have acted from it, and we have we have never up until now, have never accomplished any we have never accomplished ultimate happiness or any lasting happiness ourselves. So then based on that mind that thinks highly of oneself and disregards totally disregards what happens to other sentient beings. What what is it that comes out of it? It’s not happening. It’s what the only thing that comes out of it is suffering.
What we experience out of this mind is suffering. So then so then out of that mind, out of that attitude that wishes happiness for oneself and that wishes does not wish any suffering for oneself and that total disregard what happens to other beings while one is striving to accomplish these two purposes. So while one is in order to attain these two purposes, then one one how to say? One engages in negative actions towards these other beings. One looks down on them.
One, how do you say, deceives them, and one use uses all sorts of engage in all sorts of activities in order to accomplish the objectives of the self-cherishing mind. So then so then why why Geshe-la is explaining all this about self self-cherishing too? Because Geshe-la is saying we were supposed to be talking about loving kindness and compassion. But then we have to understand that this mind, the self-cherishing mind, which wants to accomplish happiness only for oneself and totally disregards whatever suffering others are experiencing, then that’s the mind that that does not allow, you know, loving kindness and compassion to to come about. We have to think that just as oneself wishes happiness and does not wish suffering for himself, then all other sentient beings are the same. So then just as, again, just as oneself, suffering and happiness, we have feelings.
So then happiness is is is every both happiness and suffering, they depend on on on both, again, virtue and non virtue. And then virtue and non virtue can only come about in dependence upon other sentient beings. Then from a Buddhist perspective, the way to understand this: So then so then we have to get rid of this mind of the self-cherishing mind because it’s it’s the causes it’s the cause only of suffering. It brought to us only suffering.
And then so then we have this this and and we have to bring about this other mind, which thinks of all sentient beings as as one’s mother. So how how how does this meditation goes about? Just like our mother in this life has been very kind, has shown has shown great kindness to to us, then, how do you say, Geshe-la says, not only our mother, but all other sentient beings have have been kind to us just just the same as our mother have has been. So then so then just like this mother is this like, we regard our present mother very highly. Then just the same, we have to understand that in a previous life, our mother was not the same person that is our mother in this life.
It was another sentient being. And since we have had we have been reborn, how do you say, innumerable times, and it’s the same like this, we have had innumerable different mothers. And and and all sentient beings, like this, all sentient beings, each one of them has been our mother innumerable times again. So then, Geshe-la briefly explained that all this talk about previous lives and and one’s mothers in in previous lives, it has to do is in order to understand that, in order to be able to to engage engage in that, one has to accept past and future lives. This is, I’d say, a topic for people who accept the existence of past, previous, and and and future lives.
So in order to be able to to accept the existence existence of past and future lives, one has I mean, first first of all, Geshe-la says it is not is not enough how to say? How would it to to lightly accept past and future lives. One has to to make this conviction of of one has to create a conviction, a very strong conviction of the existence of past and future lives. And one does that by using many different reasonings to establish the existence of past and future lives. Then going through these various reasonings, then one can accept and can generate this conviction within one’s mind.
So then even and then again, even if you if if you are if one is not a person is oh, I’m sorry. If one is a person who does not accept past and future lives, then again, even if you don’t believe in that, again, all sentient beings one still can understand that all sentient beings are, in fact, very kind to ourselves. So then even if we think if we think only of this life, then we we we can understand we can also understand that all sentient beings have been kind to us even thinking of this life alone. So then, how do say, all we have we have dependent on the kindness of sentient beings when we were when we were born. We were dependent on sentient beings.
Our birth was dependent on sentient beings. Again, when we were little children, we were dependent on sentient beings in order to be able to grow up and survive, to get education, to get food, and everything. If there were no other beings, then we wouldn’t we wouldn’t have survived. So then, Geshe-la is giving as an example. For example, now Geshe-la is sixty years old, and he’s saying, I only got to this age in in in dependence on innumerable other sentient beings.
It’s it’s due to them, to this innumerable amount of sentient beings, of other beings, human beings, whatever, that that Geshe-la was able to get to to to this his sixty years of age. So then since he was a since he was a little kid, everything has been everything he has acquired or has experienced has been in dependence on others. Every every food he has eaten has been in dependence upon others. Every milk he has drink he has drunk. Every every every every water he has got.
Every every cloth he has got, every book, every any education, any, how to say, movies or performances or or or whatever entertainment he has experienced has been due to to the kindness of other sentient beings. So then it has been in dependence on on on all other sentient beings that Geshe-la was able to to get to six years or sixty years of age. And all happiness that we experience has been in dependence on other sentient beings. All happiness that we experienced and that we have experienced up to now is in dependence on other sentient beings. So then, Geshe-la says, if we do not have any other any other sentient being to help us, then we will not be able to survive even just a few days, two or three days.
After a few days, we will we will be dead. So it is so it is then it is in dependence on all all the sentient beings that we have experienced, all these good things, all these good things. And then understanding this, then we we we how do say? Understand how very kind all other sentient beings have been to us. So then this house that we are now, Buddha house, this house that we are I said, in which we are inside right now that we are using to study, to work, and to meditate, and so forth.
This house, it only exists because of the kindness of of the hardships of of many many beings. So then, usually, we do not think of of this of this facts. We just we are ready to use and to make use of whatever whatever we meet. But then if if we stop, then can I say we have to stop to think about it? We have to stop to think that it is because of many other beings, the hardships and and the help and the efforts of many other beings that we can use, for example, this house right now.
So then so then thinking in this vein, then even in this in this life alone, all sentient beings have shown have shown us great kindness. Then if if on top of thinking on this vein only about this life alone, if we start thinking about past and future lives, then we understand that there is not even one sentient being who had not who has not shown us great kindness. So then so then thinking in this way, we understand how other all sentient beings have been kind to us. And even though we understand that, we see that all sentient beings are experiencing a great amount of suffering. In all in all suffering, we understood already comes out of non virtuous, practicing non virtuous deeds.
And we engage in non virtuous, all sorts of non virtuous deeds in order to accomplish our own welfare, in order to satisfy that self-cherishing mind. And then again so so then again, we understand because of this self-cherishing mind, because of trying to accomplish this welfare of oneself alone, then we engage in all these negativities. We engage in all these harmful deeds and all these non virtuous deeds that causes suffering. So then, for example, Geshe-la is giving a small example. If if we think, for example, of a bird, a mother bird who who has laid out some some eggs and whose eggs have had hatched already, and she this this bird will in order to feed the little birds her little birds, will will kill many insects to feed them.
And then killing, generally, generally is is is a non virtuous deed. It’s a it’s a negative action. So in order in order to feed the little birds, the mother bird will will will kill many insects, and she will experience the results of this negative deed in the future. So then in the same vein, just like in the example of of the the the little mother bird, our our mothers have engaged in all sorts of hardships and even and even negative deeds for the sake of, how to say, sustaining us, nurturing us. And they will experience they they will experience a lot of suffering because of them.
And then and then not only our mothers, but all other sentient beings have have gone through all these hardships and so forth in order to sustain us. And and this is the measure of their kindness and how kind how how kind they have been to us of going through all this suffering for us and for the sake of ourselves. So then so then in order to so then we understand how all the sentient beings were very kind to us, and then understanding that we we also understand how all the sentient beings, just like ourselves, do not wish I mean, they wish to have happiness, and they do not wish to to have any suffering, to experience any suffering. And then thinking may all sentient beings be endowed with happiness in these causes. And may all sentient beings be free from suffering in these causes, we meditate on loving kindness and compassion.
So then so then what is meditation on love and compassion? This is just it’s just this. It’s meditating on these reasonings. These two reasonings, how all beings have been kind to us, and and, again, thinking over how all the beings wish happiness, like ourselves, and do not wish suffering like ourselves. And then like this, we generate.
We meditate on loving kindness and compassion. I can just how how do you want to go? And this discuss a little bit and then yeah? Yeah? So so this is the teaching on loving kindness and compassion.
This is the conclusion of the teaching. We were supposed to have maybe a little bit more time for questions and answers, but it was a little bit longer than expected. So, anyway, you if you have any questions on the topic, now is your chance. Okay. Yes?
So then this is this working well? Can you can you hear me well? So this is an analogy that Geshe-la was giving in order to show that our mothers, our present mothers in this life and and all other sentient beings who have been our mothers, have also engaged in all kinds of hardships. And they engaged even in negative deeds. And they have experienced and they will experience a lot of suffering just in order to sustain and nurture ourselves.
So it’s just a measure of their kindness that they have gone through all these hardships. They have totally disregarded their own happiness for the sake of benefiting us. And that’s how kind, how how very kind they have been to us. Do you understand? So then the the the mother bird was very kind to the to her little birds.
When when she disregarding her own happiness, she went through all these hardships, and she even did engaged in negative deeds that will cause her suffering just in order to sustain and nurture her her little birds. You understand? This is is is is it has to do with with karma, past and future lives and and so forth. We’ll get a bit more detailed and complicated if we get into that. Any other questions, please?
So then, Gala was asked to to lead you into a meditation loving kindness and compassion. So first, Geshe-la is briefly explaining that every meditation to every topic that we meditate on, there there are two kinds of meditation. One is analytical meditation, and the other one is we could be placed placement meditation or single point of meditation. So all this teaching that Geshe-la has been given on loving kindness and compassion, all these reasonings that we have to go through in order to bring about these minds, those they are in fact what is called analytical meditation. So then when we sit down in the meditation posture, there are there are two things we can do.
There are two ways to go about it. We can we can just sit down there quietly and and go over and over again over all these arguments and reasonings in order to bring about these convictions, these these strong minds, these inner ourselves, and this is the analytical meditation. Or we can do what is called the placement meditation or the single point of meditation, which which stays focused on only one mind, does not go for many different reasons. Stay Stay focused on one thought alone. For example, the thought of freeing all sentient beings from suffering.
May all sentient beings be free from suffering, and one stays put on that on that consciousness, on that mental state, which is wishing freedom from suffering. So then both analytical meditation and placement meditation or single pointed meditation, they are done not with the body. They are done with the mind. Still, even though we they are they are not done mainly with the body, the body has its importance on the whole process of meditation. We need to to sit straight in order to stabilize stabilize the the winds and and the channels and so forth.
And then we need to sit in a comfortable position without feeling any discomfort so we can meditate well. But that’s the extent to to the importance of the body in the whole process the whole process. So then, again, Geshe-la says we do not meditate with our bodies or med we meditate with our minds, and we do not meditate when we’re talking about the mind or the consciousness. We we could be referring to many different consciousness. We could be referring to eye consciousness or ear consciousness or nose consciousness or tactile consciousness or whatever.
We are not talking about any of this body sense consciousness. We are talking about mental consciousness alone, and we it is with mental consciousness alone that we meditate. So then in order to to we have to meditate with with our mental consciousness alone. And in order to be able to accomplish that, we have to, how to say, block or close all other doors of perception. So for example, if if if our our eye consciousness engages an object, then our mental consciousness will follow that eye consciousness.
And the same goes for all other consciousness up to the tactile consciousness. Tactile consciousness, if if we feel something with our with our tactile senses, then our mental consciousness will follow that tactile consciousness. So we need to we need in order to be able to meditate proficiently with the mental consciousness alone, we need to block away all all other sense consciousness that we have. So then, again, Geshe-la says, in order to be able to to accomplish this in order to accomplish this, we have to accomplish what is called what is called calm calm abiding. And having accomplished calm abiding, then we can engage in meditations using only our our mental consciousness without being distracted by the other sense consciousness.
Even if a visual object arises or a sound arises, then we will not be distracted by them. Our our mental conscious will not follow them. So then but but so then, again, I say, we there are many ways. There are many meditations. There are many ways to meditate.
But as beginners, we should meditate, first of all, on analytical meditation. That’s what we should do. And without doing analytical meditations and accomplishing them, we cannot accomplish well, I would say, placement meditation or single pointed meditation. So then as as beginners, we should know if we do not meditate, we if we do not engage in analytical meditation, we will not be able to identify those minds of loving kindness and compassion. We’ve been not being able to identify on loving kindness these minds of what are these minds of love loving kindness and compassion, we’ll not be able to engage in more advanced forms of meditation on this on this mind, placement meditation, for example.
So we must understand what are these minds. We must understand the mind of minds of loving kindness and compassion is not is not the mind that wishes the happiness for one sentient being, or two sentient beings, or three sentient beings, or a hundred, or a thousand sentient beings only. It’s it’s a mind that wishes to endow all sentient beings without exception with happiness. And the mind of compassion is the mind that wishes to free all sentient beings without exception of suffering. And those are loving kindness and compassion.