Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 45-minute commentary on the Wheel of Sharp Weapons, Geshe Pema Tsering opens by drawing a precise distinction between the self-grasping mind (the basic sense of a solid “I”) and the self-cherishing mind — the “real demon” the text identifies as driving beings through saṃsāra from beginningless time. He then walks through the giving-and-taking meditation: visualize your guru or chosen deity in the space before you, request their blessing, breathe in others’ suffering, breathe out your happiness and accumulated virtue. The session’s practical core is a systematic survey of specific suffering types — physical illness, mental distress, hunger — tracing each back to past karma created under self-cherishing, then using that recognition to confront and refuse that mind directly. A family example, helping relatives who seem to hate you in return, keeps the instruction grounded in everyday experience. Suited to practitioners already working with Mahāyāna mind-training.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 03 w of sw 2002 03 29.mp3
UUID: edd17d5e-6556-470d-b77d-31126128f9df
Teacher: Geshe Pema Tsering
Collection: Wheel of Sharp Weapons (Geshe Pema Tsering)
Date: 2002-03-29
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 45.5 minutes
Words: ~2,867
Oral transmission. He said he will start with that. So Yep. Okay. Okay.
Please repeat after It’s just saying it’s very good to do the practices. Well, number seven. So it says that the self-cherishing mind is regard known as the real demon or the real, yeah, real demon and or the or the lord in other words and as an attendant of the lord or worker for the Lord. It’s just regarded the self grasping mind. Self grasping mind is regarded the attendant or the the servant of the self-cherishing mind.
So the self grasping mind is is the feeling of, what do call, you know, sense of ego or feeling importance on the self I. So so then the self-cherishing mind is that mainly cherishing for self and then once seeing ones are very important and ignoring others. Not thinking about anybody else but only for self and regarding that being the most important as as what you call the self-cherishing mind. So now what, after recognizing these two minds, the self-cherishing mind and the self grasping mind. Once you recognize that, now what we should do is one one shouldn’t let one’s mind under the under these two minds, the self-cherishing mind and the self grasping mind.
So so seeing these two minds as the enemy and and now what you Instead of concentrating on these two minds, the self-cherishing mind and self grasping mind, now what we need to do is we need to avoid this and think others. Cherish others, and on that point, you train your mind on on cherishing others. So so for the sake of others, if we need to endure suffering or we endure the suffering and whatever hardship we need to go through, whatever hard work that we need to put, we put, we do hard work and endure the suffering and try to work as much as possible. In that way, we go ahead and train our mind. So the self-cherishing mind and self grasping mind do desire all the things that that that we desire.
We want happiness, we don’t want suffering. They too desire that but but because they always they always mislead us to a wrong actions. So so that’s that’s the reason why we still are circling Samsāra, why we’re still in Samsāra because we are led by these two minds. So knowing that these two minds, the self-cherishing mind and the self grasping mind leads us to create all the negativities from from the beginning less time. And knowing that now we train our mind to to not to let our mind go under under the influence of these two minds and and train our mind in in getting rid of these two minds.
And and how we do is such as the practices that is taught in here like like how the bodhisattvas practice like voluntarily accepting the sufferings of others and in the meditation such as like exchanging oneself with others like every bit of suffering that one one doesn’t wish that is same with others. So so voluntarily like taking all the suffering of other sentient beings to oneself and taking that I will experience their suffering like that. And every part of happiness that I have me here with me, I give that to other like give that to other sentient beings. In that way, like that’s the way how you exchange your mind with others. So up till now from the beginningless time, we have been circling in saṃsāra.
Why? Because of our karma and the delusions. And how we have created these karma and delusion that is because of these two mind, the self-cherishing and the self grasping mind. And because of that, these minds, have committed many different karmas, deluded karmas and we became familiar with many different deluded karmas, and that’s how we we have been circling in Samsāra from the beginningless time till now. So so from now on onwards, I I I will not commit myself to do under under the influence of self grasping and self-cherishing mind and and and create all the good causes, wholesome actions, like bring happiness to to all.
So now we should train our mind that thinking visualizing all the virtue that that you have accumulated. Not only that, all the virtue that have accumulated by the past enlightened beings, the Buddhas and like imagine all the virtue and and and give that virtue to the to other sentient beings. Think that you are giving all of these virtue and the happiness to the other sentient beings and and and also voluntarily taking, imagine you’re taking all the suffering of others ripening upon you, like thinking in that way and also making prayers prayers or sending good wishing prayers. May I be able to do this do and take the suffering voluntarily. So so that’s how once you train like exchanging oneself with others, which is giving them all the happiness that one have and the happiness of happiness of all the virtue of all all beings towards them and that giving to them, to the other sentient beings and voluntarily taking their suffering to be ripened within oneself upon one.
And that’s how one should train and if it is getting too strong, finding hard to do this type of meditation, you shouldn’t just like force yourself to do it but you should take a break and then contemplate to yourself about what virtue you have done, what negative actions you have done, like think about that and then relax yourself a little bit again and then again encourage yourself to do this type of meditation and get train your mind little by little in the process So so exchanging and exchanging oneself with others. Here, like, we are equal in the sense, all sentient beings are equal in the sense that, we wish happiness and we don’t want sufferings. And because of that, now exchanging in place of one, you bring the others. And that’s how you change it like, as one doesn’t wish suffering, it is same the others doesn’t wish suffering. As one wish happiness, same the others wish happiness.
So bring others in place of you. So of this, the self-cherishing mind, you get rid of that instead cherish others. So exchanging oneself with others and then like as an example, whatever anything happens to one, one is worried about oneself. One doesn’t want to experience any type of suffering. So because of this self-cherishing mind that one have.
Now we need to exchange that thought for others in ignoring oneself in the sense that that getting rid of this self-cherishing mind. And instead of that, now you bring the other mind that is cherishing others in place of the self-cherishing mind. For example, like in our family, like we have a husband, wife, father, mother, kids, daughter, son. It’s possible that as much as you try to help them, it seems that some for some family, it is like the more they hate you. There are there are some that kind of feeling or that something happens like that too.
Nice. Nice. So so if that happens or one feels that others are more you help them, it seems like they are hating you. If that happens to you, then now don’t blame them. Nowadays, also you change your train your mind saying, it’s not because of them, it’s because of my mind.
Mind self-cherishing mind. So so so what do you what do you do is that what do you how you think is that it is not because the others, it is because of this self-cherishing mind. In one of our past life we have might have created this karma ourselves that somebody might have loved us but we ignored them. We hate them instead of giving them love. And now that karma is ripening.
And who did that? Who did that is that mind. That our own mind have caused that. Now you have to like pin, like point out these points to yourself saying you did that, your own mind did that and now the karma is returning back to you. Returning back to you.
So that’s what happens if That’s what happens. So that’s how you should like introduce one by one to whatever happens to you to your own ego or the what you call the self-cherishing mind. So so then how you think is that now is that because because of that, I’ve done this and followed you in in meaning the self-cherishing mind in the past, and this is what I’m getting now. So from now on, I’m not listening I’m not listening to you and the self-cherishing mind. And I won’t I won’t listen to you.
Instead, I will I will cherish them even if they are, like, hating us, hating me. In that way, you should train your mind. So so then if you, yeah, if you got some physical pain or sickness and so on, that even that is because of that in one of our past lives, the self-cherishing mind have caused us to do commit some negative actions such as hitting others or inflicting pain in others and so on. So because of that, now the result, because we have created that cause now, is the result is ripening on us now. So, so in that way, knowing that it is being like that, that once you again tell this self-cherishing mind, this is what happens if I follow you.
It has happened so many times. And now since from now on I’m not going to follow you. I’m not going to listen to you like telling to this self-cherishing mind. And and instead, I will cherish others and go against your go against what you want me to do. Like that way, you should, like, train your mind.
So so past negative karma or unwholesome actions, they they they are like the weapons use as like the weapons now inflicting us the the pain and the suffering. So so then you should continue meditating thinking that giving all the happiness that you have to other sentient beings and imagining they have experience, they are experiencing all these type of happiness. And and and then take all their sufferings like all the sufferings of also other sentient beings and imagining it is ripening upon one is experiencing the suffering for them like they’re voluntarily exchanging these two minds. Like that, you should, like, meditate and train your mind. So now how you visualize when when you meditate, what you visualize is you visualize your own guru on or around in the space before you, you visualize your guru or the deity that whatever you’re practicing.
So after visualizing the deity or the guru in the space before one, what you request them is to bless you to be able to perform these practices. That is, may I be able to experience all types of sufferings, All the sufferings that is of others are suffering, taking that upon myself to experience that and may I be able to give all types of happiness to them and they are that they might be able they might be able to experience the happiness and requesting them to bless you to be able to perform that. So that is what you request to the guru or the deity that you have visualized. So so then while you’re doing the meditation while you inhale, imagining you’re inhaling all types of suffering of the other sentient being within within you and experiencing their suffering. And then when you exhale, you exhale all the happiness that you have and giving them to the other sentient beings.
So if, for for example, if you have some sickness within yourself like physically if you are sick and you have some sickness in your body, then when you take the suffering of other sentient beings, just pile on top of that within you and try to experience like imagine you’re experiencing. So then the most important point here to be mindful with is that you’re doing these practices to destroy the self-cherishing mind. That has to be kept in your mind and thinking as you’re doing the practice, you’re destroying that self-cherishing mind. So so then when you exhale, you exhale, you send all happiness that you have. All the pleasure and happiness that you have and you send towards others and imagining the other as you experience happiness yourself, in the same way the others have experienced the happiness.
And and and then in that in this process, that’s how you do the practice of giving and taking or exchanging oneself with others. So now even if physically you are not sick, you have mental sufferings such as sometimes you’re happy, unhappy and different state of mind. So so the mental sufferings that we experience, the unhappiness and so on. That is because in previous lives, one of our lives we have created the karma like mentally disturbed others or caused others to get angry and so on. So now at this present the result, we have created the cause and now the result is ripening at the present.
So again, like one have to introduce saying this is because why you have created this cause in the past and now you have the experience and this that known as the karma is ripening now. You have to introduce and tell this self-cherishing mind. So so so so knowing that now that one have that whatever suffering mental suffering that one is going through, it is the result of our past actions which we have caused mentally disturb others or caused others to get angry and so on. Knowing that now, from now on telling the self-cherishing mind, I’m not going to follow you, I’m not going to follow you and and and bring harm to others mentally and so on. And I instead, I I will even if I have to experience suffering, I will voluntarily accept the suffering and and experience that.
So so, again, similarly, you make this request to the guru deity that you have visualized in this space before you and request them to bless you, to be able to experience together with your mental suffering, all the other sufferings of all the mental suffering that is in other other sentient beings, to be ripened upon you. In that way, you you make the request. So so again, next one, like, the suffering of hunger, suffering of thirst, suffering of not getting food. These also in our past life, have created the cause now to experience this type of sufferings. That one might have, one of our previous life, one might have taken some other people’s belongings or stole their food or like know, take their food and so on.
Those because of this self-cherishing mind causes that. We now have to experience this suffering of hunger and so on and knowing that too. So like, I wouldn’t say, you you you make your all your we how we react is that we see our things, all the belongings that we have being very precious and take care of that. And when you see others belongings, we don’t worry about that, we don’t care about that, whatever happens, we don’t think about it. And that’s how we we we react.
We act. So for example, you Such as like such as you make put big text on something that or you try to like take a lot of profit out of it from someone else or whether you forcefully take it or whether you steal it. So because of those actions in our previous lives, now that we experience in the food, we have experienced the suffering of hunger and so on. So when we So now again, thinking that telling the self-cherishing mind that because of because of me listening to you in my previous lives that now I’m experiencing such and such these type of sufferings. And and and from now on, I will never I will never follow you or listen to you.
And instead, I will I will I will train my mind on these different steps. So So instead of taking others’ belongings to myself, I will give all my belongings to others and bring them happiness. And I’m not going to follow or listen to you, the self-cherishing mind. And contemplating or meditating that may this may the suffering of my hunger or thirst Get rid of all the sufferings of other sentient beings too. Like thinking, taking their sufferings of hunger and thirst upon oneself and experiencing at the same time that suffering of hunger and thirst that one have.
And imagine, I mean, that serve or free others others suffering. In that way, you should train your mind. So as that thinking what decisions that we are doing now, this retreat that we are doing. For example, if you are doing fasting retreat or and so on, thinking yourself and making.