Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. The demon causing unclear deity visualization, the text insists, is not an external spirit but the self-cherishing mind working from within. In this 44-minute commentary on the Wheel of Sharp Weapons, Geshe Pema Tsering works through a sequence of everyday sufferings — being treated as a servant, hearing false accusations, unwelcome surroundings, separation from loved ones, distance from one’s teacher, and dull meditation — tracing each to a specific past karma rooted in self-cherishing. A recurring practical instruction guides practitioners to name the suffering, identify its karmic cause, resolve not to repeat it, and visualize taking on the same suffering of all beings. Pure and impure perception are also addressed, with Songtsen Gampo’s Lhasa offered as an illustration.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 04 w of sw 2002 03 29.mp3
UUID: 9f9f9af0-7bc0-410c-9d20-241649287466
Teacher: Geshe Pema Tsering
Collection: Wheel of Sharp Weapons (Geshe Pema Tsering)
Date: 2002-03-29
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 44.6 minutes
Words: ~2,673
That I’m doing this I’m doing this practice. That say like whatever, if you are doing a fasting retreat, then all the suffering that that others say that one will experience these sufferings. And then taking that all the other sufferings that other sentient beings are going through upon oneself. And thinking that I have right today I have made my my body, my human human rebirth meaningful thinking in that way and participating in the practice. So So next that people will experience, what do you call, being under someone’s power, not having any freedom or always serving others, not having any choice of not doing any work, not doing, not having any choice, always have to listen to others.
This kind of suffering that one going out or if this kind of suffering is to the result of our previous karma and such as if one have in our previous karma because of our self-cherishing mind, we have controlled someone and and make them as a servant or as a slave or and so on and cause them to do a lot of work. So that karma is now ripening right now and again introducing that to oneself, oneself cherishing mind that the karma that is ripening up on one. So making ones of understand that this suffering that one is experiencing now is being the result of our past karma. That is important. And and making yourself now this making yourself from now on, I won’t repeat the same negative karma that I have done in the previous in the previous life.
So in that way, you should train your mind. So we should train ourselves not to like stay away from this self-cherishing mind as much as possible. And and and and how and and not letting our mind under the control of attachment, hatred and so on of this different state of delusions. And and and because as we as generally how we tend to think is that we love the close ones and we we we ignore the others or we even hate others. So in that way how we how we live, how we live.
So but now from now on, you tell that self-cherishing mind, say, I will I will not follow you and train myself. Instead of hating, I will train, I will try to work for the benefit of others. In that way, you should train. So So from now on, I’m not going to follow you, the self-cherishing mind. Instead, I will work for the other sentient beings.
I even if I have to be servant for others, I will do that and accept voluntarily all the sufferings sufferings. In that way, you should train. So so now, next one that one experiencing like such an unpleasant sounds at present, such as such as someone telling you off or sounds that you don’t want to hear, you hear. These type of suffering that we go through is also a result of our past actions, past deluded actions. And that is because in one of our past we have committed the divisive speech or you divided other people with different negative speeches.
So because of that, we have created that kind of karma. Now one is experiencing this suffering of speech or suffering of unpleasant sounds. So for example, such such as such as sounds, like, even though you haven’t made a mistake, somebody accusing you that you have done it wrong. So such as like dividing friends like accusing one to the other, telling something even he or she haven’t done, telling them he did this and that. So dividing them such these acts that we have committed in the past causes us to experience these are like a these type of suffering at present.
So so all these are caused by the self-cherishing mind. So making yourself again, recognizing these actions, past past negative actions are the result of this present. And and letting the self-cherishing mind know that this is what happens if I follow you. And from now on, I’m not going to follow you and instead of following you, I will I will cherish others and and to be able to do that, you again receive the blessings or make the request for the guru or the Buddha that you have visualized in the state the deity you have visualized in this space before you to bless you to be able to perform that. So next step which is that for example if you are living among friends, some friends not liking you, that kind of, sort of like the feeling that you experience, someone not liking you or such as the place where you are staying, not actually you don’t like the place, that type of, so out of this also you experience a certain level of sufferings.
That too is also caused by one of our previous lives and through our negative karmas. We have created that and how we have created that, what kind of karma that we have created is that bringing unhappiness to others in many different aspects like causing or bringing unhappiness to other others. So those are the result, that are the cause, those are the cause. So so now that we’re experiencing this type of result. So so thinking that I will not follow the self-cherishing mind that disliking others in the past or doing wrong towards others, that’s because of our self-cherishing mind and now I won’t go under the influence of you and and and and not commit those actions.
So how you should contemplate or think is that because of my previous deluded karma that I have committed these causes to experience these different sufferings at present. And now some outside conditions is causing me to experience these different types of sufferings. And that is because, thinking that it is because through the blessings of the guru, the Buddha, and the deities, they are sending, making me experience the sufferings so that I don’t have to experience again in the future. So thinking that at the same time you are suffering that sufferings of your karmic, is At the same time you’re suffering, these sufferings, you also, imagine or visualize all other sufferings of other sentient beings going through and taking upon yourself and and and and imagining that may that may serve or free all other sentient beings from those sufferings. In that way, you should train.
So if if others disrespect you and so on, that too is because of of the self-cherishing mind. It’s not because of them. As long as, yeah, the others are sentient beings. Sentient beings are regarded most kind to us. The most kind ones to us.
So because of that, even even though we see for us that other sentient beings are harming us, but what what appears to us is not the true because others are are very kind to us. So in that way, you should train your mind. So training your mind in the sense that if if someone tells you a fault and or or criticizes you in the sense that yeah, instead you shouldn’t see that as something wrong but tell finding, knowing that it’s not, knowing that our own, what I would call, impure mind. Because of our own impure mind, we see that. It is not that, or what you call, others criticizing us is something true. The truth is, or the actual part is because of our impure mind.
We see that. So whether the the place or whatever you are, the residence is pure or not. As as example, in the text it’s given like when the king Songtsen Gampo in Tibet, during his present in Lhasa, it is known as pure land. And when he left as an ordinary person, when he goes there, it is an ordinary place. So whether whether it is pure or not, it’s dependent upon oneself, not the others.
So so whether it is pure or impure in a sense, it is totally depend on not on the object. It is upon oneself whether one is pure or not. So for example, like if a Buddha to appear in this room, then this room for Buddha, it is a pure land. And as for an ordinary person, it is ordinary room. So whether it’s pure or not, as again, to repeat it, it’s totally up to one.
Up to up to one one, not the others or the object. So this like a, this notion of pure and impure is also very important because we we live with that. Because if we see a fault in others, again, we’re not definitely sure whether the others have a fault or not. It depends on the other person to whether he is pure or not. So we shouldn’t like, we should be aware criticizing others, be aware of criticizing others.
So again, next one, there are different state of sufferings like getting apart from the loved one such as the partners, such as one to one kid or relatives or the close ones. So when we experience these different types of suffering. And same thing, if one have caused, like, some taking somebody’s loved one for oneself in the previous, then these are those are the causes for present that one experiencing these sufferings. And this one. Last.
So so from now on onwards, I’m not going to commit the same kind of actions that I have done in the past, that taking others loved one or taking, what is it, making others follow you as your servant or helper and so on. I won’t do that. So from now on, instead of doing that, I will work for them, like, work entirely for them as much as possible. In that way, you should train yourself. So going to the next one that is, for example, if you find such as your spiritual master or the gurus seems that doesn’t like you or seems to be distanced from you, then that too is a result of our past action, past karma.
And that is like I say in our past life if we stop following guru’s advice and go against his or her words, and instead follow the advice of negative friends in the sense of who does commit negative actions. Then that’s the that’s the cause for for at present one experiencing that type of sufferings. So so from now on, I will will follow my guru the gurus or holy beings advice, my spiritual master’s advice, and I will respect them, and I will not follow negative friends and so on. In that way, you should train and commit yourself. I I will never accompany a negative friends in the sense that we’ll commit a lot of negative actions.
So I want this, again, this point like negative friends. Friends, this again very important for one. So because very few very rare friends that leads one to to the Buddhahood or to liberation. So and then on the other hand, the negative friends that leads us to the lower realms or lower realms are, like, bountiful. So so for example, even though one is very good, if one is if one’s friend is negative friend, then non virtuous friend, then definitely through the influence of the negative friend, Instead of going up, become better, you either become negative or, I mean, like, lower than what you are.
So on this context, according to the text, it meant is that negative friends means those who are not working for the sake of others. And those who are working for others are known as the positive friends. So so from now on, committing oneself now, I will avoid being friends with the negative friends and always live with the positive friends. So now going to next point which is that if one is to experience these different state of suffering that others telling, putting one down, telling one that has done something wrong even though one haven’t committed anything, like all this suffering that one experience to one. That now also is the result of our past karmic actions.
In one of our previous life, one have committed the cause which is being careless in the sense of being careless for others, in the sense that not respecting others and instead like telling them without any consideration, like telling them off and accusing them of many different things. That is the result. That is the cause. Now past actions have created to experience now this type of result. So so again, like pinpoint like pointing out to the self-cherishing mind saying, because of you, one have committed in my previous life, I’ve committed such and such and now I’m experiencing such and such.
I’m not going to like letting it know that I’m not now following you, the self-cherishing mind, and instead, I will work for the sake of others. In that way, you should train your mind. So so from now on, I will all all what I desire, all what I what this self-cherishing mind desires, I’ll I’ll give up doing that. And all all of what my self-cherishing mind doesn’t want, I will I will take that. So in that way, you should train.
So going to the next point, which is like if one have a a confused state of mind, like, all or unhappy state of mind and unclear state of mind, that too also is a result of our past karmic actions. So such as some such such negative karmic actions. So, for example, that when we are visualizing a deity, though we put, though we try hard and not having a clear picture of the deity visualization of the deity. Instead, it’s pretty blurred and getting unclear and making, what do call, instead of that one’s mind going dull instead of getting more clear. These two, what do call, is is one of our past karmic result.
So we whenever it happens, that happens, we say, it be some demons causing this or some other thing causing me to have unclear visualization. We might think that that that’s our superstitious thought. And but then it might be true, maybe the self-cherishing mind as a demon is causing this. So so now the self-cherishing mind might be the demon that is causing us to have unclear visualization. So that is the self-cherishing mind is what is labeled as demon.
So so when we say demon, like, we point something outside us. And when we said the demon is not something outside, it is the inside, the self self-cherishing mind within one. It’s causing or inflicting harm to one. So this self-cherishing mind from the beginningless time that we had have caused us to create all the way through those many negative karmas. And by creating many negative karma, we experience different state sorry, different states of sufferings.
So from now on, I would never let myself under the influence of you, the self-cherishing mind, and commit these negative karmas. So for example, as an in in the monasteries, there are many monks and, the abbots or the disciplinarians walk around. So if a monk does something wrong, they get punished. So why they get punished? Because the monk whoever has done something wrong.
That’s why the disciplinary punishes. So similar to that, unlike that everything, every suffering that one have, one is being punished right now or one is experiencing it at present. It is because one have done something wrong in our previous life. And similarly in different countries they have different laws and depending on the crime the person commits. If someone has done big crime, they might lose their life or they might get killed and someone who have done lesser crime, there are different types of punishment that they they get.
So so similar