Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 35-minute session, Geshe Pema Tsering opens with a vivid image from the Wheel of Sharp Weapons: the practitioner is bound by the rope of self-cherishing and self-grasping, and calls on a personal deity to cut them free using the arrow of conventional bodhicitta and the sword of ultimate bodhicitta. He then gives grounded practical advice against expecting quick results — checking for signs of progress after a few days of Lamrim practice, jumping between teachings, or abandoning retreat early all trace back to the same self-cherishing root. He clarifies how self-grasping and self-cherishing arise in sequence, and how they block the six perfections: miserliness obstructs generosity, anger obstructs patience. The session closes with a memorable analogy — the self-cherishing mind offers poison-laced food while cherishing others offers the finest meal, yet ordinary beings instinctively reach for the poison. A short Q&A follows.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 13 w of sw 2002 03 31.mp3
UUID: 0a49bf6b-298e-4f6f-a2b3-27c1eb9314f9
Teacher: Geshe Pema Tsering
Collection: Wheel of Sharp Weapons (Geshe Pema Tsering)
Date: 2002-03-31
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 35.4 minutes
Words: ~2,374
So this morning in the teachings, we covered the part where we have recognized the self-cherishing mind and the self grasping mind and and when we requested the Yamāntaka, the Lord Yamāntaka to to destroy anger, stepping on top and and and so on. We have requested to to destroy completely. So so we have requested that, but still I have some more to request. You’re requesting again to him and Thakkar saying that I’m now still in the swamp of the self-cherishing mind and the self grasping mind, and I can’t get out of it. So in in other words, I’m still bound with these two, the self-cherishing mind and the self grasping mind.
I’m tied up in by these two mind, they press, cut, cut, cut — they cut the ropes of these two and. Under the control of these two minds, they use the rope of calm and diligence and time me up and couldn’t get out of it. So please untie me and free me from. So use those two weapons, the arrow and the sword cut free me which is the arrow symbolizing the conventional bodhicitta and the sword symbolizing the ultimate bodhicitta? So so how we are in this situation now bound by this bound by the rope of common delusions is because of the self-cherishing mind.
So if I don’t cut the rope of this, the chain or the rope at present, and if I keep on like this in the future then I won’t be able to get out of there. I will be again doing the same thing continuously in my next life. So please make sure these two, the self-grasping mind and the self-cherishing mind be completely uprooted like like a imagining like they have their own life and and requesting the protector to completely uproot them. So so we shouldn’t like just think that through our short practice that we’ll achieve all those high states. We should not just aim for short period of time but we should aim for a long period of time.
If you aim for long, then that’s how you should proceed. It is not that you aim for short time and you come to achieve and attain those realizations or the attainments. So for example, like what shouldn’t be like this such as, okay, I would practice Lamrim and you engage in the practice and or you go into retreat like and then after couple of days later or three four days later, you look for signs whether I have improved or not, whether I have gained realization or not or after one month of practice already looking your dreams whether you have done well or not. Like it shouldn’t be like that. So Like, Like hoping something which you haven’t actually completed.
You have like hoping for the goal which you haven’t even completed. Like such as you haven’t even studied anything and hoping for a Geshe degree or hoping for such enlightenment without doing without doing, like, little practice. So we shouldn’t be like that. So so if we do that, we hope hope for that kind of thing, then it’s just like if you do one month or year and if you don’t see any good sign then you you you get discouraged and you somehow leave the practice once and for all you just leave it because you don’t see any benefit. In that way, you get discouraged.
So same thing when you start something, you should complete. And such as you try to read or practice Lamrim. You start at the very beginning and then suddenly you skip in middle and go do do something at the very end or or skipping or reading something else and and and that way we shouldn’t be doing like that should should complete. So such as like you go to elementary schools and you don’t complete that and then you think, oh, you will do something else. You learn some other skill and even that you didn’t complete it or so you go to join the armies and you do some time and again you don’t complete that and then you do other business, you again you don’t become successful and then you again leave that like that like that.
If you do like that then you won’t you won’t you won’t be able to complete one thing. So you’re hoping for the the the ultimate goal, but but you are doing you’re not completing one completing one thing, but you are trying to do many things. So so if you do that, then you don’t get anywhere. So again, who is making us do like that? And we do experience such a things That we start something and doesn’t complete and go somewhere else, do something else.
And who is making us do this is again that same self-cherishing mind. That is what is making us do these things. And now, like, once you recognize that it’s being like that. So now to go again, those who don’t know much about self-cherishing and self grasping. Self-grasping is like grasping at a self, making oneself important and then along with that, when you make it important then the self-cherishing mind, you cherish the self.
And that is what means like self-cherishing. So these two comes one after another. So so when you when you grasp yourself grasping which is things oneself such as you you see like oneself and others, self is more important. Self that is grasping itself like oneself seeing the better than the other or that grasp grasping itself. And then when you grasp it like that then you come to cherish that self more being more important than the others.
So that’s how that’s how that that’s how it works, this self grasping and self-cherishing together. So as it is taught this morning that we we are like the servant of these two, the self-cherishing mind and the self grasping mind. So all these all these problems what do you call the disadvantage circumstances that we face now and and then is because of these two mind, self-cherishing mind and the self grasping mind. So if we don’t look into it, then we It is not so obvious to us that this self grasping and the self-cherishing mind is making us do all these things, create all these negative karma. As it is said in this morning’s teachings that they act hidden, they act in a hidden manner where they are like they hide around and like a thief, coming around hiding and then they make us do those things.
So moving to the next point that we all are same, wanting happiness. Excuse me. Wanting happiness and not wishing suffering. So so we we seek happiness, but then now to experience happiness what we need is we need to collect the causes. And the causes are such as the practice of six perfections, the practice of giving morality and patient.
So but then because of the self-cherishing mind somehow stops us from practicing these practices such as giving out of miserliness, we stop practicing giving. And and similar to that, we because of the self-cherishing mind, we we we don’t tolerate and we don’t practice patience which is we we react angrily towards them. Part of you, So so and same with with with practicing patience. We we are like not allowed to do that. Instead, if for example, if someone does something a little wrong or makes you a little mad, you want to retaliate like far bigger than what the person have done to you.
Like instead of practicing tolerance. That is because of again the self-cherishing mind and the self grasping mind. And that’s because because we are under the control of these two minds, we think we are supposed to be helping us, ourself. But in in reality, no, we are not helping out the real self that as we explained this morning. We’re not helping them that but we are harming that self, our self.
And similar stops us from practicing giving, stops us from practicing morality. So it it makes us do commit all the unwholesome actions, the ten unwholesome actions. And it’s it’s supposed to be meaning that they’re giving happiness to us. self-cherishing mind is giving happiness to us. So so when the the self-cherishing mind does that, it experiences pleasure for a moment.
But but actual eye that we When you say our our real I, the I which is just labeled I, independent of one cause and condition, that real I in reality, is experiencing suffering. So next point which is again, we also not able to put any effort in our practice, not able to bear any hardship in our practices. Like if you are doing some practice and suddenly if you’re a little like unable to put any, if you have some suffering or little tiny little pain comes up, then you’re not able to bear it and not able to tolerate it and giving up that yeah. These things too? But then but then for worldly pleasures that that we call pleasure in the in in the Samsāra, for that we we we able able to put lot of effort.
We can we can what do you call we can really work really hard even if we are really tired, we can still work for that. And such as such as we expecting without without any knowledge trying to trying to be a great person, like a leader or or or whatever minister or so on, like without having much knowledge. So so like you you go to a local schools and study a little bit and then instead of completing all the way through, you you know, I want to be the guy the top. And just wishing for that without actually doing all the practices, you won’t get there. It’s just aiming like like just wishing that is not enough.
So we we experience such these all these different state of state of sufferings of not achieving. All this because of this self-cherishing mind. So so all these are caused by these two minds, self-cherishing mind and self grasping mind. And again, you request that deity that you have visualized in this place before to completely crush and uproot and completely destroy. So as it is said in this morning that in the text it names the Yamāntaka.
You request to him to the Yamāntaka, but in other cases, in your cases, when you request to your own personal deities to destroy the self-cherishing mind. So again, such a such a situation like when we meet first with the with the with our gurus, like with the with the teachers, without doing any analysis, without analysis or examination, determining the person, you go and receive all these different teachings. And then or in the case like getting married without knowing the other person, you get married. And then after a couple of months later, you don’t, you two don’t get along very well and then you get divorced and there’s a lot of problem you face. Similar like and then you get a part and similarly like leaving after a couple of months later, you see some other teachers and you leave the other teachers and do other things.
These things sort of happens to us and happens to us. And why? Again, same same reason because of the self-cherishing mind. So same like, for example, in just to accumulate wealth doing business, they have to sometimes go to India, go to China to do different trading and so on and put a lot of effort for a lot of hardship. And similar here, just to gather our own belongings in the wealth, We had to do many works, like go there here and so on.
And the reason we put all this effort is because to get to together like the food and shelter or the wealth. So So while we do this, we are trying to again please the self-cherishing mind. And in order to bring pleasure to this self-cherishing mind, that’s why we do that. So all these things, again, recognizing it being under the influence of self-cherishing mind and the self-grasping mind and requesting against that same deity to destroy it completely. So so this self-cherishing mind is the root of all all problems or all all fault.
And for example, all the interference or obstacles that we face along our path to until we achieve full enlightenment. What is causing What is giving the obstacles or causing the interference is the self-cherishing mind. So then the cherishing others, the the altruism is the root of all qualities. So so by knowing this now, from now onwards, we should try to develop this mind of cherishing others and and put our effort into it. And why?
Because knowing that this is the quality of all what is it? Root or the cause of all good qualities. So for example, said is we are we are getting offered food by two two two different individuals. One is the self-cherishing mind and one is the mind cherishing others. And the food that is offered by self-cherishing mind is mixed with poison.
And the food that is offered by the cherishing others is the best food you can get, best food you can get. But then for us as an ordinary, we don’t know how to eat that best food. We are longing towards eating the poisonous food, which is offered by the self-cherishing food. So we will stop here for the time now. And if you would like question and answer, we do some question and answer.
Because he had taught enough now. And I’ve said many things. So you might have if you if you have any questions, please do ask. This one? Do wanna do this?
Is it okay he stops there or you want him to keep going? Oh, yeah. Go ahead. Is self-preservation the cause of self-cherishing, self-grasping, and the samsaric root? Self preservation.
Mhmm. Is it Rudolf?