Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. Turning the three poisons into fuel for compassion is the central move in this 46-minute commentary by Geshe Pema Tsering, part of his ongoing Lamrim series. He works through each affliction — desire, aversion, ignorance — showing how a moment of craving or hatred can become an occasion to reflect on how all beings suffer from the same cause, and to mentally take that suffering on oneself. He then cites a perfection-of-wisdom sūtra in which the Buddha encourages bodhisattvas to welcome even illness, attacks by wild animals, or being thrown off a cliff as opportunities rather than threats. The session closes with a vivid, practical sequence: how every ordinary action — entering a shrine room, opening a door, washing, sitting down, even cleaning one’s teeth — can be silently offered up for all sentient beings’ liberation.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 07 SoP 2004 10 17.mp3
UUID: 6e640b21-610d-458f-9e62-194b03959a0f
Teacher: Geshe Pema Tsering
Collection: Stages of the Path (Geshe Pema Tsering)
Date: 2004-10-17
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 45.7 minutes
Words: ~3,738
So please develop the right motivation for listening to the teachings. This is a teaching from the Mahāyāna tradition. So please develop the motivation that accords with that, and that is the motivation of bodhicitta. So please try and develop the idea that you’re listening to these teachings in order to achieve Buddhahood because, as a Buddha, you can be of the utmost benefit to all sentient beings and lead them from suffering into a state of happiness. So by listening to this text, may we develop understanding of it, may we be able to, through that understanding, put these teachings into practice, and by putting them into practice, become fully enlightened Buddhas.
That’s fully enlightened Buddhas and be able to lead all sentient beings out of suffering. Mhmm. He said, you didn’t understand what I was saying? Okay. So we’re going through the teachings in the graduated path from the guru yoga, and we’re up to the stage which describing the development of bodhicitta and the development of great compassion through the practice of giving and taking.
It’s been talking about all the different ways to practice giving We’re up to the section where it says describing how to use negative situations in order to develop compassion. Therefore, it says: when we experience when we have an experience of desire when we feel attached or desirous for an object that we can also use this as a practice to develop compassion by thinking that by, first of all, recognising that we have developed desire, that we are attached to an object. And having recognised that we’re attached to an object, we start to look at the process by which being attached to an object creates different types of suffering for us and other beings The first thing to do, however, is to recognise immediately that we are experiencing attachment, that our mind is fixating on an object, and we are under the sway of that way of thinking. So if we’re able then to recognize that we’re experiencing a desire or attachment to an object and to recognize the faults of the this kind of attachment, how we experience this through putting superimposing qualities on that object that it doesn’t have that is the qualities that it can make us happy then we can recognise properly this experience then reflect on how not only ourselves but all other beings in Samsāra, because of their attachment to objects, because of their focusing and superimposing qualities on objects, experienced sufferings.
By this force of this desire and attachment, they have experienced suffering or continue to experience suffering. And so We can think then that all of the suffering that’s caused by all of the desire, all of the attachment in saṃsāra, may that ripen upon me now as this experience of desire that I have now. May they be purified from their attachment that causes suffering so we can think this about all of the sentient beings that have been our mothers in past lives and that we’re taking on their suffering in order to protect them from that suffering And likewise, if we happen to come across a situation where someone, for example, says harsh words to us or creates a sense of pain within us and that we have an aversion to that person or the object or whatever it is that we feel negatively towards and we experience a moment of hatred or a new moment of dislike, then we can think, Okay, this hatred, this dislike also causes suffering. It causes people and beings to react negatively, create negative karma and therefore experience suffering. So in the same way that I’ve experienced this suffering, all other sentient beings also have hatred in their mental continuum.
They experience moments of hatred. We can think about all the suffering in all of the different realms and all of the different situations that has come about through this suffering no. Sorry. Sorry. Through this hatred.
And then we can think, may all of that suffering and may all of that hatred, ripen in my mind stream, right now in the form of this, this this hatred or this aversion that I’ve I have experienced. Likewise, we should be alert to the way that our mind is working. And when we experience a moment of ignorance, then we can think that we can use that as an opportunity to develop compassion, to practice towards developing bodhicitta by thinking by recognizing our experience of ignorance. Now, this can be a moment of fogginess or a moment of not understanding properly, and we all have moments of those kind of experiences, so we should be able to relate to them. And then we can think about, if we have a moment of this kind of experience and we’re able to recognise it then we can look at how much suffering has come about that we know about and even things that we can’t imagine through people not knowing, through people’s ignorance how much suffering that has caused.
Then we can think, ‘May this moment of my ignorance be a cause for ‘May all this ignorance of other beings be subsumed into mind moments of ignorance, and may they be free from ignorance and free from the suffering, that, that it comes about through ignorance. So sentient beings as vast as in number as vast as the sky, may all of their, ignorance ripen on me in this moment as this ignorance that I have experienced, May they be free from ignorance is a meditation that we can do. And this means that we are are talking about a way in which what are called the three poisons: desire, attachment or desire, aversion or hatred and ignorance are turned into a way to practice the development of loving kindness, to develop compassion. So if we if we start looking at things like this in the way that has been described in this section and in previous teachings, it means that we can turn whatever happens to us into an opportunity to work towards the development of bodhicitta. So if we can have experiences like this and we’re able to turn them around and see them as an opportunity to focus on others along with any of the other circumstances, then almost every moment of our being can be a cause for us to develop a bodhicitta.
If we turn positive if it’s a positive experience, if we experience happiness, then we can seek to share that with other beings. If it’s a negative experience, then we can seek to take on other beings’ suffering in the form of that negative experience. So through looking at it in this way, every moment that we have can be a cause for us to develop bodhicitta, which is the main aim of the practice that’s being described here. Sorry. There’s a word, and it has two meanings in Tibetan, and I didn’t know which one was appropriate, so I had to ask.
Right. Now, this kind of practice of taking on other beings, mentally taking on other beings’ suffering to develop our ability to focus on others and to work towards Buddhahood was described very strongly by Buddha Śākyamūni in a text called the eight thousand verses of the Prajñāpāramitā, in which he said, If we experience illness, if we experience harm from spirits, if we experience famine, if we experience being thrown off a cliff, if we experience being attacked by wild animals, we should see any of these experiences that we may have. Bodhisattvas,, we shouldn’t be scared of them. In fact, we can even get to the stages of bodhisattvas where we can practice and we can be happy about experiencing these situations. Because if we’re focusing on others and not on ourselves, then this means that any of these experiences pale in comparison to all of the suffering that anything that can happen to us pales in comparison to all the suffering that is experienced by all the different beings in different realms.
So Whether it’s as humans, when we think about the suffering that other humans have experienced, sufferings that animals experience, the sufferings that spirits experience, and beings in hell realms experience. Anything that happens to us in one lifetime pales in comparison to that, to the suffering of others. So if we are able to do the practices of the bodhisattvas, it means that any experience that we have like that is going to be something that we’re happy about because any experience that we have like that enables us to strengthen ourselves, to purify our mind stream and to act as a cause for benefiting others. So can experience any of these things we experience if we think I’m taking on this suffering in order to alleviate other beings’ sufferings. Then we can use any experience we have in a positive way.
So the Buddha goes on to describe the practice of bodhisattvas as being one in which they will willingly give away even their bodies in order to cause happiness in sentient beings. So if an animal needs food, then the bodhisattvas will give them their bodies because they’re not as attached to their bodies as they are to the they’re not attached to their bodies, and they’re working for the happiness of other sentient beings. So this is the the practice of giving in its strongest form that’s manifested by the bodhisattvas and selflessness. And it doesn’t sound very easy, does it? It’s something that you would have to have developed complete selflessness to be able to do.
So it’s not something that we need to do straight away, but this is how this is the the endpoint of being able to focus on others and not focus on ourselves. So any negative experience that we have, we can think that in order for us to become Buddhas, in order for us to get rid of ignorance, in order for us to get rid of self-cherishing and to develop compassion for others, then any of these experiences we have, whether it’s being attacked by wild animals, whether it’s being whether it’s a vague experience of this of ignorance or if it’s a an experience of illness, an experience of falling off cliffs. Any of these things that we can experience, we can turn them into a opportunity to take on to develop our minds by perceiving our experiences, taking on the suffering of others. And if we and at the same time, if we give away mentally give away any kind of happiness, any kind of excellent worldly anything that’s considered excellent from a worldly perspective to other sentient beings, then we are able to develop it’s called the armor of right intention, which is another way to say the bravery of the bravery of compassion.
So this is what we can strive to develop here if we are following the teachings of the Buddha. Uh-uh. Uh-uh. Uh-uh. So then it goes on to say that if you look for if you want a clarification or if you want a explanation for the way to turn your mind around using these practices, then they explained very clearly in a lot of the Buddhist sutras.
There was some weird expression there that I didn’t get, but I got the rest of it, so that’s okay. So the if at the moment, as beings in Samsāra, what we’re doing wrong is that everything Okay. Now I get it. So at the moment, what we’re doing wrong, what keeps us in saṃsāra, what makes us keep experiencing suffering, is that every moment or almost every moment moment of our actions is ruled by or is powered by or influenced by ignorance. We’re constantly working from this perspective that if we follow our desires, if we fight against our enemies, if we behave in this way, then we’re going to somehow become happy.
This obviously doesn’t work, and this is why we’re still in Samsāra. Now, the path of the bodhisattva is to stop thinking about self and to focus on others and this is what’s called skillful means focusing on others is what’s called skillful means It’s the that if we rely on them or if we follow them will lead us to developing bodhicitta and ending up here becoming a Buddha. So it comes down to being a very simple distinction. If we focus on ourselves, we stay in saṃsāra. If we develop our ability to focus on others, we become Buddhas.
Focus on developing making others, become happy, and then we become Buddhas. So we have the ability to become Buddhas. Have the we have the the nature to become Buddhas, but what we need to do is to change the way we think. We need to start focusing on focusing on sentient beings and not focusing on ourselves. But to do this, we can’t expect to become can’t expect to become bodhisattvas who can give our body to tigers in the first moment.
We only can do as what we can do, and we need to keep working on that principle of doing as much as we can. And when we get comfortable with doing that, doing more than what we can at the moment. So this even comes down to when we are doing things doing things that we may consider to be Dharma actions or religious actions, and we should be really careful of our motivation when we’re doing these. If we want to make all of our actions lead us to Buddhahood, lead us to development of bodhicitta, then we make sure that everything that we do is with this motivation for sentient beings to focus on others. Now there’s a couple of different sutras that are described here.
There is a sūtra explaining, the objects of the bodhisattva’s practice, and also another one called the, another one from the Sūtra Pitaka, which is called the clouds of immeasurable offerings. And in both of these sutras, it says that if we are offering making offerings to to the Buddha the Buddhist Buddhist statues as part of a ritual, and then especially if we’re offering flowers or incense or something that is as sweet smelling and beautiful, then we can think, for example, that by offering this flower, may by offering this incense, may all beings have their ethics purified. May all beings develop ethics that are in accordance with the Buddha’s ethics or that are as clean as the Buddha’s ethics. So in doing this, we can even make our offerings about others. And even when we’re if we’re cleaning or dusting, there’s this word that I didn’t know, but it looks like dusting.
That was when Geshe-la was going to blowing on the table. So this if even if we’re doing those, especially if we’re doing those around Buddhist statues, then we can think, by doing this, by cleaning up in this way, by by behaving in this way, may all sentient beings be free from their sufferings. May this clean away their suffering. May this clean away their experiences that they don’t want to experience. So in this way, even everything from offerings to very menial activities can become a part of our practice.
So this is the another way that we can make offerings of flowers is we can think, may this offering of flowers be a cause for sentient beings and to have their mind streams beautified. And the way that they have their mind streams beautified I’m not sure that’s the word Made lovely. It’s to be free of negative emotions, destructive emotions, and the close causes for destructive emotions, the ignorance and the three roots of the on the three root and destructive emotions, and also the things that they cause being negative karma. May they be free of all of these things. May their mind streams become beautified or by by this offering.
So so if we can remember it, we can also if we’re going into a shrine room or a room like this, then we can think in the same way that I’m going into this shrine room, the same way I’m going into this temple, may all sentient beings enter this is metaphor, the city of nirvana. May all sentient beings gain entry into the city of nirvana. And when we’re walking out of the shrine room, we can say may all sentient beings get out of Samsāra, in the same way that I’m leaving this, shrine room. Oh, sorry. The prison of Samsāra the oh.
Let me leave the prison of Samsāra the same way I’m leaving this shrine We can also think when we open the door to our homes in the same way that I’m opening the door to my home. My all sentient beings open the gates of their wisdom, and through opening the gates of their wisdom, develop insight into reality become Buddhas. And when we’re shutting the door to our houses, we can think in the same way that I’m shutting the door to my house. May the doors to the lower realms be shut for all beings. When we sit down, we can think in the same way that I’m sitting here, and may all sentient beings — oh, may all — it’s difficult to translate metaphors, isn’t it?
In the same way that I’m sitting here, may all sentient beings sit in the heart of bodhicitta. When we’re lying down, we can think may in the same way that I am now getting rest, may all sentient beings get the perfect rest of stopping suffering by achieving nirvana. When we get up from having a rest, then we can think in the same way that I’m getting up. May all sentient beings rise from the slumber of destructive emotions and achieve their happiness. When we’re going somewhere, we can think in the same way that I’m when we’re going something like driving going on a vehicle, we can think in the same way that I’m using this vehicle.
And may all sentient beings develop the vehicle of the Mahāyāna and find their way to Buddhahood. If we are so if we are if we get rest from our travels I was just trying think yeah. If we get rest from our travels, then we can think in the same way that I have I’ve finished my travels. May all sentient beings, finish their tormenting their the way that they’ve been tormented by, attachment, aversion, and ignorance, and therefore achieve peace. And when we’re washing ourselves, we can think in the same way that I’m washing myself.
May all sentient beings purify or wash away their destructive emotions and negative karma. When we’re washing our hands in order to to be able to eat, then we should think in the same way that I’m washing my hands so that I can use them properly, so I can use them to be a benefit to me, may all sentient beings purify their mind streams so they can be a benefit to all sentient beings. When we’re washing our legs, may we think that through in the same way I’m washing my legs to to make them pure, to make them clean, may all sentient beings be able to get rid of their afflictive emotions so that they can, follow, the vehicles of the the the the the different vehicles of Mahāyāna and and so forth in order to, develop their mind streams in order to be of benefit sentient beings. Okay. So back in the day in Tibet, they didn’t have toothbrushes, and they used sticks.
They had a special stick called a tooth a tooth stick. So it says, when you’re using your tooth stick, they think in the same way that I’m using my tooth stick or cleaning my teeth, all sentient beings purify their imperfections of speech and develop clear speech, which leads all sentient beings to happiness. So this in all of these different ways, whichever way we use our bodies, whichever whatever we do with our bodies, we can turn that around so we’re thinking, may this be a cause for sentient beings to be to be to be separated from suffering and experience happiness. So if we’re doing prostrations, then we should think oh, then we can think no. It’s not only us doing prostrations.
Along with us, all sentient beings, including the very proud deities, are prostrating to the first Three Jewels of Buddha, Dharma, and the Sangha, and in this way creating merit. So it says in the the sons and daughters of the lineage, which is talking about those who are following the path of the Mahāyāna, behave in this way. It’s the behavior they dedicate in this way to the development of bodhicitta. It is said to be the skillful means by which we move towards Buddhahood. All of these instructions are found in that teachings of the Buddha.
So we can stop there for today. So we can stop there for today. And if you have questions, then you’re very welcome to ask them. So basically, Geshe-la says, but basically, what it means is that we have in our everyday experiences lots of opportunities to create causes for becoming Buddhas. And so there’s it we don’t have to just concentrate on one thing.
We can incorporate it into our daily life. And so if this is all it is, then that makes it a bit easier to practice Dharma. Yes. Think about it before you say it. He said that, like, he if you’re just going, yeah.
Yeah. It’s like this, then there’s no point. You know? You don’t just say, all sentient beings should be free from suffering. Think for a moment about sentient beings’ suffering before you say it.
So if you’re just saying it, then there’s no point, but it’s just a it’s it’s a matter of developing the habit of not just saying things, but thinking about others’ suffering. Alright. K. She was like, you’re not drinking tea? I was just trying to explain to her if I can, I’ll get agitated.
If I drink too much, you’re okay. Anyway yes. Oh, okay. If you did. Both.
Both. Yeah.