Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 42-minute commentary on the Wheel of Sharp Weapons, Geshe Pema Tsering opens with a vivid contrast: the self-cherishing mind acts as a sneaky thief, stealing accumulated virtue without our noticing, while the self-grasping mind operates as an open enemy — and is, crucially, easier to recognize. He unpacks the master Dharmarakshita’s declaration of having finally identified both as true enemies, and explains how conventional bodhicitta and ultimate bodhicitta — called the king of mantras in this text — are the two weapons needed to destroy them. A doctrinal section contrasts Hīnayāna arhats, who abandon self-grasping but not self-cherishing, with Mahayanists, and explains why entering the Mahāyāna path directly leads to enlightenment faster than the arhat route. The session closes with practical instruction: practitioners need not visualize Yamāntaka specifically; any personal deity — Tārā, Mañjuśrī, Medicine Buddha — can be petitioned to crush both minds.
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File: 12 w of sw 2002 03 31.mp3
UUID: 394a3156-cab8-4002-82f5-7d054fca916b
Teacher: Geshe Pema Tsering
Collection: Wheel of Sharp Weapons (Geshe Pema Tsering)
Date: 2002-03-31
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 42.8 minutes
Words: ~2,846
Mind or self-cherishing mind and the self grasping mind. So so now recognizing this that from beginning less time to now, we we have experienced a lot of sufferings, gone through a great lot of different karmas that is because of the self-cherishing mind. So so echo as I said in the teaching here, now I have recognized. I’ve understood that who have caused all this suffering to me and and who have created all these causes for me to suffer this. Like, it says that I’ve understood it.
I’ve recognized it. Yeah. So So it’s saying the composer, the master himself said, I have I haven’t I haven’t I have now recognized this enemy, this self choice mind and and this self grasping mind. So up till now, I haven’t recognized it. So so today, through the kindness of the of the gurus, through the kindness of the teachings, I now come to recognize this.
So so the self-cherishing mind have harmed me, not the not like very obvious in a sense, but even like in hidden way, in a hidden manner have harmed me. So so like like a thief come to steal things when there’s no one around and suddenly comes and takes things from others belongings. So similarly like this self-cherishing mind, it comes in a sneaking or sneaky way and destroys all our virtue. Like comes around and but we don’t know it’s destroying our virtues. Mhmm.
Or virtues and merit. So it steals all our virtue and the merit that we have accumulated. And not only that, it’s again makes us commit many negative karmas. So the self-cherishing mind and the self grasping mind act pretend pretending to be me, myself, and and make me do all these things. But in in reality, they are not me.
So the the self, the real self is is one which comes from the past life to this life and has got to next life. But but that is the real self. And and but then this self grasping mind and the self-cherishing mind is pretending to be that. It’s not not that one, but pretending be that. So that real eye, when we talk about the real one, that too is just a mere level.
Mere level eye. It’s non truly existent. Though it’s non truly existent, do exist in level. It is it’s non truly existent, but it exists mere depending on causes and conditions. Which is the level to eye or self.
So that is the real eye but the eye when we hold to us as a eye, myself eye, that eye, we generally hold to be existing by itself, inherently existing. So the self grasping mind and the self-grasping mind has that type of eye, which eye exists for the self existing inherently. But and but they are pretending to be the real eye that which is the label eye existing there, depends on the cause and conditions. So so now making once coming recognizing this. Now I have come to recognize this.
So so these two, the self-cherishing mind and the self grasping mind is like a like a one is one acts as enemy and one acts as the as a thief. One is like thief, one is like the the enemy. And the self grasping mind is like like the enemy. Mhmm. Use it as the symbol of enemy.
And the self-cherishing mind is like the thief. So so because in ordinary friends, the enemy can recognize more easier easier than the thief. So similarly, self-cherishing mind is harder to recognize than the self grasping mind. So the self-cherishing mind pretend to to be benefiting one and and act as many different things. So but in reality, it is not benefiting us.
It is always harming one. Yes. So pretend pretending or acting that you are benefiting one is benefiting the self, the self-cherishing mind, and and causes one to do many different karmas such as negative karmas and causes us to be reborn in the lower realms. So so I I have come to recognize this now. And from the beginningless time, I I thought the self-cherishing mind and the self grasping mind is helping me and that’s why I followed him, help followed them and and work for them.
So so today, I come to realize the through the kindness of the guru and the teachings that this self-cherishing mind is being the enemy, which is causing one of all types of harms. So up till now, myself and many many others haven’t come to realize that, haven’t come to recognize this being and some do get some understanding but they don’t they don’t really trust their understanding in their understanding. So so thinking that I’m getting really, really getting surprising like, yeah, getting a real surprise that, oh, really, this is what it is, getting getting surprised once of recognizing that. So So So that master, Dharmarakshita, is saying now I I have not even a slightest doubt that this is my enemy. They are my enemy.
And I know I have recognized it and I did have doubt in the past but now from now on I don’t have and I will never lend myself under the influence of them. So so I will from now on, I will use these two weapons and the conventional bodhicitta and the ultimate bodhicitta and what do call swinging the weapon and completely uproot self-cherishing mind completely. So special like the personal deity of the master Dharmarakshita is And and then because of that, he requested Yamāntaka to to use those two weapons. The self the conventional bodhicitta and the ultimate bodhicitta and and like hit on its head. I mean, the self-cherishing mind and the self grasping mind.
So Yamāntaka is the wrathful aspect in the form of wrathful aspect and has many implements or weapons that it carries. And the master is requesting to use all those weapons or implements that you are carrying. Please destroy this self-cherishing mind and the self grasping mind. So So spin the weapons three times and send like the conventional bodhicitta, the ultimate bodhicitta and do it together and completely get rid of uproot or get rid of the self-cherishing mind and the self grasping mind. So there are four from the one top to bottom.
And that symbolizes the four opponent powers, which is for purification. So as this says, known as the king of the mantras. Use the king of the mantras to destroy it. And when we say mantras, not not not, I mean, we do recite different mantras, the king of the mantras, the best of the mantras is the two bodhicittas, the conventional bodhicitta and the ultimate bodhicitta. And use those mantras to destroy the self-cherishing mind and the self grasping mind.
So so we have circled in Samsāra under the control of the self-cherishing mind and self grasping mind again and again. We have because we are the self-cherishing mind and the self grasping mind made us create different karmas under the influence of delusions and we’re and that’s how we have circled. So so the self grasping mind is is is how we come to get rid of the self grasping mind is by realizing that things doesn’t exist inherently. Things doesn’t exist inherently. So even like and and the solitary realizers, none of those different practitioners, they do they they also, what do you call?
They also come to abandon this, the self grasping mind. So they do abandon the self grasping mind but self-cherishing mind is is is not they have they they can’t they they still have the self-cherishing mind. Mhmm. Yes. So to to abandon this self-cherishing mind, what do we need as a first step is the conventional bodhicitta.
So the and the solitary realizers, through their practices, they practice the Four Noble Truths and the emptiness mainly for self liberation. So so that when they achieve the liberation, they do abandon the self-grasping mind but but because but they haven’t abandoned the self-cherishing mind. So so they have achieved the state, they’ve abandoned all types of delusions but they they still have to go when they still they have to go up upwards on the Mahāyāna’s path. So so when the ah haves, when they achieve liberation and and it stays in meditation on emptiness, like completely in meditation on emptiness. They have abandoned all types of delusions, delusions.
But then and then they stay there. And then, and sometime Buddha appears and wakes them up. And then say, tells them, you haven’t yet achieved Buddhahood and you still have to practice to such and such things. So so when one liberation and stays in meditation on emptiness, there’s always the bliss of realizing emptiness. One experiences and one remains in there for for many eons if you are not awaking from that from that.
So so then when Buddha comes and wakes him, wakes the and then and tells him tells him you’re not completely enlightened. And then from there on again, then the works for the sake of others and it goes on to the path. So then being that goes into as soon as he enters he or she enters the Mahāyāna path, then he leaves the Hīnayāna part. So it is said that of the though the arhat do have immeasurable compassions for others, they are known as they don’t have the great compassion. So so so the the immeasurable compassion can be developed, and then they it it’s it becomes the great So when you say immeasurable compassion is like do have a compassion for a measurable number of sentient beings.
So so and then the great compassion means not not even leaving one single sentient being in this in this state of suffering like like including every sentient beings, including not even leaving one out. So that that kind of compassion is known as the great compassion. So when you develop the immeasurable compassion then you come to the generate the great compassion. As soon as you come to generate this great compassion, then you are awakened as as a Mahāyānist. You are awakened as being Mahāyānist.
So so as as you are awakened into Mahāyānist, that’s where you generate this great compassion and that’s where you you you you first generate the conventional bodhicitta. So so and then you enter when as soon as you have generated the conventional bodhicitta, you first enters into the first Mahāyāna’s path that is the path of accumulation. And on the path of accumulation, what Mahāyāna’s do is abandon the delusions. But then that I have have probably abandoned the delusions already. Do you understand or?
Yeah. So it’s not that easy to understand because it’s explaining this explanation is coming from the different teachings. So those arhats, they do have they have abandoned all the delusions, but the the imprints of delusions are still there. So that needs to be abandoned. So so then like that arhat, we have always gone through the the Hīnayāna path and achieved the arhat state and who enters into Mahāyānist path.
That and another being who first enters into Mahāyānist path. If you compare these two being who is going to achieve the enlightenment first, then it said that the first one, the first person who is entering into Mahāyāna path of accumulation. If they started the same day on the path of accumulation, then who reached first enlightenment then it says not the arhat but the other person reaches the enlightenment first quicker. Because the though have abandoned all the delusions and is more advanced. That stays again goes back and does sits in meditation on emptiness for many long periods sometime in between while he’s practicing.
Goes back and goes into meditating on emptiness for a long time, period of time. So, but the other one like goes continually practices on the path, doesn’t stay on meditation on the emptiness. So, so the other one gets to enlighten quicker. So so so now to to reach full enlightenment state, enlightenment or the Buddhahood, we need to have the mind cherishing others. And and the self mind cherishing others, as soon as you have that, you you you you The self-cherishing mind.
So one thing with that though he or she have abandoned the self grasping mind, still have the self-cherishing mind. And still has to like abandon the self-cherishing mind. So the self-cherishing mind is one of the one of the, you know, what do you call, hardest obscurations for us to abandon besides the imprints of the delusions. So making this request for Yamāntaka to please gather these minds, the self-cherishing mind and the self grasping mind, bring it together and please destroy completely this mind who from the beginning of this time have caused me to break different commitments, to break different vows and make me create many negative karmas. So please destroy that.
So sort of make that kind of request to the to the So not only that these two minds, the self-cherishing mind and the self grasping mind have damaged oneself, but also has damaged others. So because never let us to help others. So we because the self-cherishing mind doesn’t let us work for others and and sometime it it makes us pretend that we are working for others or benefiting So though we do though it let us do some time, but in the corner of our mind, always thinking of self. Always try to improve that or working for self. So probably this is like like ourself.
We we come and listen to the teachings and and and try to destroy this self-cherishing mind. But then we do this but every now and then we think about ourself. Oh, I need to be more comfortable. I need to get better. In some ways, we think like that.
So when you do meditate on bodhicitta, for example, I do the I’m I’m doing this practice and in order to achieve full enlightenment for the sake of other sentient beings, on the side of your mind do you think to benefit yourself or to get some benefit for yourself or not? He gets like that. So even that little thing that on the side of a mind as this self-cherishing mind stops us from really benefiting others, really working for from like from within. So so making this request again the master saying that it does all these things and please control that gather these two minds, self-cherishing mind and self grasping mind and destroy it, like, completely. So in the text here, the request is made to because is the personal deity of that master, of the master.
And for us, like when we do that, make that request, we use our own personal deities, whatever one have chosen. So because according to the text it says that many different weapons and everything that carries. You shouldn’t think that we have to visualize everything like that as it is explained according to the text. So so doesn’t have to be a same deity. You can realize your own personal deity whether it’s Buddha Śākyamūni, whether it’s Medicine Buddha, whether it’s Tārā or whether it’s Mañjuśrī.
You have your own personal deity so use that. So like like how it is done here, if you do similar petition to our own personal deities, then we do definitely receive the benefits. So how we receive the benefit is that all the Buddhas, all the enlightened beings have that qualities. The ultimate bodhicitta and the conventional bodhicitta. The qualities of those qualities that enrich with that.
So because of that, we receive the benefit. So making again request, please, like, bring them right in front and and destroy completely like that kind of request you make. On the head of the self-cherishing mind. So it says, like a hit him hit him or it says strike. The reason is that the thing use both conventional bodhicitta and the ultimate bodhicitta.
And hit it on on its its heart. So like that, you you what do call? You request here. Oh, So so as according to the commentary, it says like these two, the self grasping and the self-cherishing mind are like a king and a queen. And and they they they command us and and we follow their rules.
So like So like you’re saying, jump on top of, on the head of the self-cherishing mind and the self grasping mind and like push him down and crush him like we’re making this request. So, yeah, like, hit the vital place where the vital nerve system is and try to destroy it. And hit on the head of self-cherishing mind and self grasping mind. We we hit on the head of self-cherishing mind and self grasping mind now. Good luck.