Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. Two vivid analogies anchor this 104-minute session from Geshe Pema Tsering’s commentary on Nāgārjuna’s Letter to a Friend: a blind turtle surfacing once a century through a floating golden yoke, and a jewel-filled vessel used as a slop bucket — both pressing home the rarity and urgency of precious human rebirth. Geshe-la then introduces the four wheels — conducive dwelling, reliance on a qualified teacher, pure aspiration, and accumulated merit — noting that practitioners already hold all four. The session closes with extended Q&A: a student asks how to cope with suffering that seems unconnected to this lifetime’s actions, and Geshe-la responds that untraced suffering signals past-life karma now burning out, warns against amplifying pain with reactive thinking, and ends with a Tibetan proverb on gentle speech over argument.
File metadata (for organising)
File: GPT – Track 6.mp3
UUID: fb525327-02fa-41bf-ad8e-7324c10f4c84
Teacher: Geshe Pema Tsering
Collection: z Letter to Friend – mulitple years (Geshe Pema Tsering)
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 103.7 minutes
Words: ~7,902
So then Geshe-la is starting to give us a good motivation and with intention of establishing all sentient beings in the state of Buddhahood, then I myself must attain enlightenment. In order to accomplish that, I’m going to properly listen and study the teachings. And then we start with the preliminary prayers. We start with the Heart Sūtra. Let us do it here one time.
The Bhagavan was dwelling on Vulture Peak and together with a great community of monks and a great community of Bodhisattvas. At that time, the Bhagavan was absorbed in the concentration of the categories of phenomena called profound perception. Also at that time, the Bodhisattva, mahasattva, Avalokiteśvara looked upon the very practice of the profound perfection of wisdom and beheld the five aggregates as empty of inherent nature. Then through the power of Buddha, the continuum of elaborations was cleared away. I and also all sentient beings go for refuge with the Buddha, go for refuge with the Dharma, go for refuge with the Sangha.
We prostrate to the great mother surrounded by all the children, by the assemblies of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of the ten directions. By depending on my prostrations to all of you, may these words of truth be actualized. In the past, the deva king Indra dispelled the Maras by reflecting the profound meaning the wisdom gone beyond and reciting the profound words in daily recitation. In that same way, I also reflect on the profound meaning of the great mother, Prajñāpāramitā, and recite the profound words in daily recitation. May all diseases, bad conditions, all the negative directions that which happens due to past karma and immediate conditions, may all this be dispelled, may become nonexistent, may be pacified.
So we start today, with the next topic, which is then, the difficulty of finding this very meaningful human rebirth with all its freedoms and opportunities. And Geshe-la started reading the next verse, which reads harder, harder still it is than, that a turtle chances upon the opening in a yoke, upon a a great and single sea is rebirth as a human after rebirth as a beast. So heed the sacred dharma king and make your life bear fruit. And Geshe-la was just explaining. So, again, we’re just being told then how difficult it is to to attain a human life with all the freedoms and opportunities that we have, knowing that the causes of such a life as this one that we have is practicing pure morality on the on the basis of of the spectrum of pure morality and then engaging in the six perfections, in the six paramita of morality, concentration patience, and so on, and making pure aspirational prayers.
So we know we know then just how difficult it is to accomplish the cause of such a human rebirth. And and so Geshe-la was saying, so, again, we can see how difficult it is to obtain a precious human rebirth. We need we need all these causes. Now it is it is in order to to attain a a mere human rebirth, just a human rebirth, it’s that’s already very difficult, and yet it’s attainable. I mean, if you I guess I was explaining, if you if you were to keep just one vow, for example, the vow of not killing, and if we were to keep it well, then you would have the main causes of attaining a human rebirth.
Now the precious human rebirth with all the freedoms and opportunities that we have, it is a very special kind of rebirth in which we need all the causes that Geshe-la was explaining before. We need the pure morality. We need the perfection. We need the pure aspirational prayers. Because it is it is it is a human rebirth which is specific and it is a human rebirth in which one is attained through knowledge of the Dharma.
One has learned the Dharma, one has practiced the Dharma, and then one has attained this human rebirth that allows ones then to to learn more and practice more. And Geshe-la is going through the analogy. The analogy that is given in the verse is just two lines of the verse, but the analogy is traditionally longer than that. So it’s the likelihood of someone attaining a precious human rebirth is the likelihood of a blind turtle on a very vast and and and stormy stormy sea who emerges, who comes to surface only every hundred years, the likelihood of that turtle to surface and have its head and neck come through this golden yoke that is randomly floating over this this stormy sea is the likelihood of someone attaining a precious human rebirth. Is the likelihood of someone being born from the lower realms into the higher realms from the sorry, from the the unhappy migrations to the happy migration, the happy realms of existence.
So again, so the the king having been told that the king is urged to heed the sacred Dharma, so study the Dharma, practice the Dharma, and make life bear fruit. Again, so again, practice the Dharma and make it bear fruit. Explain, and this is this is an instruction that was clearly given for the king. And yet, it’s something that we can all perfectly understand and that it perfectly fits our circumstances, the lives that we live.
So our our this precious human rebirth that we have is very hard to attain, and it is on the basis of this precious human rebirth that we can accomplish the Dharma, that we can accomplish the cause of liberation and enlightenment. So it is important that that we take advantage of this opportunity and practice the Dharma and therefore make our lives meaningful by accomplishing, accumulating the causes of liberation and enlightenment. If we do not do so, then we will it will be we’ll be just throwing this life to waste. And Geshe-la was saying, so if we do not do so, then we we will be wasting this this this precious opportunity. And and Geshe-la is just playing the way we go about our lives is that, again, we we eat good food, we drive nice cars, we have nice homes, we wear nice clothes and all that.
And we think and we think that that is okay. That’s enough. And and and is it is not okay. It is not alright. Because we don’t know when we’re gonna die.
And we might die tomorrow, and tomorrow we’re gonna have to part this consciousness is gonna have to part with this body, and and there’s not one thing of the things that we have been enjoying that will be able to take with us or that will be of any help to us. And then and then we regret, then we have this immense regret. Regret. And but usually what we think is usually what we what the way we we think about this, our own death, we all think we all know we have to die. And yet we think if so, yeah, if I’m going to die, what is what is for me to do about that?
There’s nothing I can do about it. So it it makes no difference if I if I’m just enjoying my life right now. It’s alright. Geshe lah is explaining and the only reason we think like that is because we haven’t really thought about it. We haven’t really seriously pondered these these aspects of our lives.
And Geshe lah is saying if we think carefully about it we will see what the conditions that we are enjoying right now are the result of preparations that we have done in years past. And if we are to enjoy good conditions in the future then we are working for it right now. If we are to enjoy if we want to enjoy a a good livelihood next year, we are working for it this year. And the same applies for the next life. If we are to enjoy the next life, to have a good next life, then we have to prepare now.
And Geshe-la then reading the next verse of of the letter to a friend which says, more stupid yet than one who throws some slops into a golden vessel all bejeweled is he who’s gained a precious human rebirth and wasted in an evil sinful way sinful life. And and Geshe-la is just going through the verse again saying again, if you have a a golden vessel, a vessel made of gold, which is filled with jewels, filled with all of a great fortune, Geshe-la was going on to say, with millions and millions of dollars, and you were to just throw some slops on it, then you will be regarded as someone really stupid. It will be a really stupid thing to do that you’re not really taking advantage of this opportunity you have. You’re not making good use of this opportunity you have. And it’s the same with this precious human rebirth, especially human rebirth, this body that we have right now, this human rebirth that we have right now is just that valuable.
And Geshe-la is just explaining again, so how if we do not take this this precious opportunity and practice the Dharma, then you know, we just go on living our lives the way we are living. Seeking for the things of this life, working for the things of this life, the comforts and the pleasures of this life. Then we are no different than animals. We’re no different than dogs. Geshe-la is talking about dogs. Dogs also know how to seek their needs of this life for food and shelter, and then they know how to They bark.
You heard Geshe-la saying, aw, aw. They know how to bark and and and and their attempts to seek for food and obtain what they want and obtain shelter and comfort and and the the pleasures of this life. Dogs can do just as well as as as humans can do in in in obtaining the comfort of this life, the the the things of this life. So if if we if we take this this precious human rebirth and we use it in that way, then we are really doing something really stupid with it. And and we are really wasting a very rare opportunity when we do not practice Dharma.
Geshe-la was quoting a little verse. It says, if you don’t if you have attained this human rebirth and do not practice Dharma, then your life is no better than an animal’s life. And Geshe-la is then so if if we if we think, if we seriously think about it, then we’ll see how that is the case. How are we if we live our lives without practicing Dharma, without engaging spiritual practice, we we are no better than dogs. But if we do not think about it, then we will question it.
When we don’t think carefully about it, we will question it. We’ll say, oh, I am better than a dog. I have an education. I can read. I can write.
I can dress up and all that. And yet, in terms of of spiritual practice, in terms of Dharma practice, from the perspective of spiritual practice, all those skills are skills that are mental thing, the pleasures and the comfort of this life only. They they are they are they pertain in the concern only the present lifetime. So they are no better. And so in the end, our lives lived in that manner are no better than a dog’s life or an animal’s life.
Now for us beginners, it is it is very hard for us to completely give up any concern or any interest in the things of the of this life, in the present life. So we need we need to accomplish things of this life. We need we need to have a livelihood. We need to have a job. We need to have, you know, good food and shelter and clothing and so on.
We need to have that because if we don’t have that, we ourselves, we cannot practice the Dharma. So then in this but we need to practice that with within the right context, within the right understanding. We need to practice that with with the understanding that this is a branch of our practice. This is a means for us to be able to practice. Is these are the favorable conditions that support our practice.
So we we can we can live our lives accomplishing the things of this life and accomplishing the Dharma with the focus, the emphasis being on the Dharma. It’s alright to do so with this with this understanding. What we cannot do is work solely for the things of this life. English, was going through the commentary. And the first part of the commentary is addressing the first verse that tells of of the analogy gives the the analogy of the turtle and then we are told that from a sūtra it is said that if we have if we have this very vast earth and it was if it was a very vast covered by a very vast ocean and a stormy ocean at that in upon which there was this golden yoke floating and being thrown in all of to all directions, north, south, east, and west.
And you had inhabiting the bottom of this this vast ocean, you had a blind turtle that only emerged to the surface every hundred years. And so the likelihood of this turtle emerging to the surface and and and the turtle’s head coming through the yoke is the likelihood of a being a being, on the lower realms of existence of an animal, for example, attaining a precious human life, that’s that’s a very difficult thing. And the likelihood of it’s a very it’s a very rare it’s a very difficult thing. It’s a very rare thing for it to happen that you you are born from the life of an animal. You attain the life of a precious you attain a precious human rebirth.
And so it is important then to make this precious human rebirth very meaningful. It is it is meaningful because it has all these these freedoms. It has all these leisure. It has all these opportunities to make it, to accomplish the dharma, to accomplish the pure the pure dharma, the holy dharma. And attaining attaining it is in and attain it is on this on this basis that we can attain high rebirth, that we can attain liberation, that we can accomplish the causes, the virtuous causes that lead to higher rebirth and liberation through meditation.
So, so make so we are the king is then, is urged. So make your life bear fruit, make your life bear these results and and make it meaningful and with meaningful with meaning by practicing Dharma. And then we have to conclude this this section of the comment that we have one verse from from from the way of life, which again is is is it has the same meaning as Nāgārjuna’s verse. It is saying about, therefore, following from the previous verses, and therefore, the Buddha, the Bhagavan has said that, the likelihood of, it it is it is more difficult to attain a human life than for a turtle that that from than for that turtle to emerge with her with its head coming through the yoke. The expression is it the expression says it is it is extremely it is much more difficult.
That’s the expression that’s being said that’s being used for for us to attain human rebirth and for the turtle to arise, emerge the surface and its head go through the yoke. Commentary to the the second verse of Nāgārjuna, which is then saying in in this in this manner then in this way, when you have attained this precious life with with all these freedoms and opportunities, if you do not, at this time that you have attained this life, if you do not exert yourself in accomplishing virtuous deeds, then you you are you are truly you are very then in this way, you you couldn’t be more deluded than that. There’s no greater delusion than that. And we’re given the illustration of somebody or a person who then stumbles upon this golden pot filled with with precious jewels and and does does nothing but fill it with with excrement. It uses to fill it with excrement.
And and, you know, such a person is regarded as extremely stupid. And in the same in the same manner, we are told the being who has attained a a a human rebirth and spends his or her life engaging in negativities. And who spends his or her life engaged in negativities and takes this this life of leisures and opportunities, this basis, this foundation, and does not endeavor does not endeavor in abandoning negativities and accomplishing virtues. There could there couldn’t be there cannot be that there isn’t anything more deluded, more self deceiving than that. And we have another verse we are we are being given to Which says having having found having found such a birth with all these opportunities, then if if oneself does not engage in in in in virtuous meditations and teachings and teachings and teachings and teachings and teachings or does does not meditate on virtues, does not familiarize oneself with virtues, then there’s nothing more deceiving than that.
There’s nothing more deluded than that. So, again, there’s nothing there’s nothing more deceiving than that because I was explaining trying to explain the etymology of the word, which is again to deceive. There’s nothing more deceiving in that. There’s nothing more diluted in that, which is obscured or or diluted in that. And the greatest delusion that we have then is is ignorance.
The ignorance that grasps onto an inherent existent self. And it is by the force of this inherent existent self that we are unable to comprehend this opportunity that we have. It is it is due to this ignorance that we remain involved with the things of this life, that we remain involved in the pursuit of the things this life, and that we do not we are not engaging dharma properly. And Geshe-la is quoting a little verse, and I was explaining the meaning of the verse because I’m not familiar with this verse, but Geshe-la was explaining the meaning of the verse, which says that even though we we we follow, we practice the teachings, we we practice, we put out put out this appearance of being practitioners, and we we have lamas, we practice we follow their teachings, we we attend to teachings and so on. Still, we believe only in ourselves.
We we believe that we know the truth, that we have the truth. And Geshe-la was saying, so even though we do engage in all those things, it is truly a sad a sad situation that we keep on holding on to the things that we think are true, that we think how things should be and so on. So I was just double checking. So we even though even though we rely rely on the lama, and Geshe-la was then again explaining. So we we rely on the lama.
We ask the lama to give teachings, and we listen to the teachings and all that. And yet, we do not really take to heart what the lama says. We only believe whatever comes to our mind. We believe whatever comes to our mind. What we only believe our own truth.
And and and this is the conclusion of that verse saying that this is a really sad state of affairs. Oh, this And, Geshe-la was saying, things are not the things are not the way we think they are. If they were the way we thought that they are, then we wouldn’t be we will we will be happy. We wouldn’t be so unhappy. But the fact is that things are not the way we think they are, that our thoughts are very confused about the way things are.
And and it is because of that confusion that we experience so many undesirable and unpleasant things in our lives that we are we are not happy, ultimately speaking. And I’m just saying, so we we confuse confuse in this way about the way things are and the way things work. Then we and and still holding on to our own beliefs, we just go on when things go wrong, we just go on to blame others, and we say it is his fault or it is her fault. She did it or he did it, and and we we don’t really come to the source of the origin of the problem. We just go on blaming, complaining about others.
And in the same way when we when we fall ill, again, we think, oh, it must have been the food that I ate, or it must have been the weather. You know, when when we went out in the in the rain and got got a cold from that, you got a fever or something, it must have been this or that. It would put the blame again on something else. And again, we we don’t we never look at the source of the problem within ourselves. And the fact remains that if if if if if you were if you were if you got ill, if you fell ill because of the food that you ate, then everybody else who eats the same food would have to fall ill also.
If you fall ill for for another reason, everybody else will have to fall ill for the same reason, but that does not apply. That is not the case. So the only distinctive mark of in the whole circumstances, in the whole context is oneself. And yet we we don’t want to look at that. And Geshe-la is saying again when when when we do not get a good job, then again we think we think you know he or she didn’t give me the good job.
He didn’t want me to do the job and he hindered me my my getting this job and so on. Again we we never look for at our own side of the picture. We never see our own fold in it So we we because we are not able to do the job, then the job is not given to us. It is given to someone more capable of of accomplishing the task at hand. And yet, we shouldn’t just give up on such things.
This is all the results of the actions that we have performed in the past. This is all our own doing so to speak. Yes, when when when good things happen, we say, oh, that I did that. I accomplished that for myself. I obtained that for myself.
And when bad things happen, we point the finger at someone else or something else, and we blame and complain about others. So I again visualize then just summarizing this this topic, then we need then to take advantage of this life and and work at accomplishing the causes of enlightenment. If we can do that, then we will have made this life meaningful. If we cannot accomplish the cause of enlightenment, the very least, accomplish the cause of liberation. If we cannot do that, then at at the minimum, minimum, we accomplish the causes of higher rebirth in the future.
If we cannot do that, then our lives are no better, no better than the lives of dogs. Then we move on to the next topic, which is then the instruction on the four wheels, khorlo. And and this this four wheels is four teachings. Then regarding that, we read the next verse which says, to dwell in places that befit the task, to follow and rely on holy beings, aspiring high with merit from the past. These four great wheels are yours for you to use.
This one. This one. Oh, yeah. And, Geshe-la, just noting noting what are these four wheels. So to to dwell in places that befit the task is one of wheels.
To follow and rely holy beings is another. To aspire high and then to have merit from the past. These are the four wheels. Conducive country where the paths the realization of the path can arise and they can be and the practice can be followed. This is such a place that we need and Geshe-la was in this place.
So, again, the the king, which is the the lord of the country, again, is being told about the proper place, a place where one can one can study the path, one knows what the path is to be tread, and one can practice the path and develop in such a place which is conducive for that to to accomplishing that. That’s the place that one should abide. And then, also we should we should rely on on, on such a holy being as one who has, rid himself or herself of all shortcomings and and obscurations and has, cultivated, many good qualities. And then somebody like yourself, and then again, I was making reference to the king, but to all of us, also somebody like yourself who has, by the force of previous excellent aspirations, aspirations. You if you if you want to accomplish, you are able to accomplish.
So, again, because the king Isla is explaining. Because the king has the aspiration to attain liberation and enlightenment. He’s the king is being told because you have this aspiration, if you want to accomplish liberation and enlightenment, you are perfectly capable of doing so. And then and then lastly, this vast vast merits that you have previously accomplished, then they they which are powerful and and you are endowed with. This this then make up for the four great wheels of the of the great vehicle.
So, again, the slide explains. So because the king has accumulated has a vast accumulation of merits from previous times, then he was born as a king. He was born in very conducive circumstances. So the king has these these four wheels on his side. He has a conducive place.
He has a proper place. He has the teacher. He has he has the aspiration to do so. He has the pure aspiration to do so, and he has the merits to be able to do so. So this then you you, and again, this is making reference to the king, but to all of us, you have all these four wheels complete.
You’re not lacking any of them. So you you have to take advantage of this opportunity again and and make effort. You must make effort in practicing the Dharma and so on. And Geshe-la is saying again, you — when the the the pronoun, the second person pronoun you is being used in the text to make reference to the king in this context, but but, really, it applies equally to all of us. You know, we we all have all these four conditions present.
Again, we we we were talking about all the paths, and we have the the five paths and the ten grounds, and when we accomplish those, then what we experience as a result is happiness. We experience every happiness there is as a result of that. We accomplish we can experience the things of this life and the happiness of this life happiness of future lives, in dependence on that. And if we, by having the aspirations to do so, we are perfectly able to do so. We’re perfectly capable to do so.
So, again, this letter just summarizes saying, again, we all have, again, these four wheels complete in our lives. So we must also take advantage of that. And then again the second the second of those wheels is then relying on a on a holy being who has who is free of of faults and obscurations and has vast qualities. So again again, we if if if there is such a lama, if there is such a being, then we rely on such a being. But not only that, but also the speech of such holy beings is also, something for us to to rely on.
So, again, if we take the the text such text as the Bodhisattva way of life from or we take this this very text here, the letter to a friend from Nāgārjuna, or we take a text and so on. Those are all text in all in all the sutras or in all the teachings of the Buddhas the Bodhisattva. So those are all texts that are perfectly suitable to be relied on, for us to rely on. And and and it it’s the same it’s the same thing as as as this will is being described as relying on a on a holy being. It’s relying on such teachings is is the same as relying on these holy beings.
And again, the the third of those wheels, talking about talking about the the excellent aspirations. Again, we all have these aspirations. We all aspire to lasting happiness. We all aspire to liberation and enlightenment. So we have that, and we are then perfectly able to accomplish all the causes that lead to that liberation and enlightenment.
So, again, it’s not as saying, we we we have all our faculties complete. We are all endowed with discerning awareness or with with with intelligence. We are all perfectly capable to understand, perfectly capable of of fulfilling the teachings, realizing the teachings. Thank you, dear. Okay.
In the Karasan. Uh-huh. So we all have, you know, we have intelligence. Have perfect we can we can exert ourselves. We have effort.
We can develop joy. We are all perfectly able of of accomplishing that. And then also this the last of these four wheels, again, a vast collection of merit. We also have that. We also have been for many lifetimes collecting vast amounts of merit.
We have accomplished vast collections of merit. This life that we have accomplished is a result of a vast amount of merit itself, is a result of having practiced the six perfections, result of having practiced pure morality, and having engaged in pure aspirational prayers. So this life alone is an example, an illustration of the fact that we have a vast collection of merits. And then we Geshe-la is quoting a mind training verse that says, if you want to know what you have done in the past, then look at your body right now. And Geshe lah stops there and explains, you know, this body, this is a precious is a body of a precious human rebirth.
So you you have certainly engaged in a lot of virtuous deeds in the past of the perfections, pure morality, and so on. And if you want to know how how your life’s gonna be in the future, then just look at your mind right now. And the condition of your thoughts is is right now determining the condition of your future lives. So again we ourselves we have it is not the case that we do not have all the conditions gathered together in order to accomplish the paths, do have all the conditions. So if we want, we can accomplish.
And we have we have this another verse from the collection of sutras which which says again the intelligent ones who want to accomplish liberation enlightenment again you have already found excellence. You have already obtained excellence, and you have a good abode, and you have a good ground, and you have good friends. Basically, we have everything every every happiness of a precious human rebirth. There’s always freedoms. So we have we we have all the necessary, happinesses.
All the necessary comforts for a yogi. And I’m just I’m just going to explain the way you cheat. Right? Mhmm. The way you cheat then.
And this this little expression, which is utensils or or or things that we utilize, and and there’s there’s a a a connective with the word happiness or comfort. And then the word yogi. So this expression is explaining we have everything that we need. You know, we have all we have water, we have food, we have shelter, we have clothing. We have all the basic necessities necessities that we need in order to be able to accomplish our yogic practices, our meditations and teachings and teachings and teachings and teachings and teachings, and so on.
One. Oh, yeah. Yeah. So we we stop here today. We have time for questions.
Do you have any questions? When dealing with the life and training others for one’s karmic results, When it is kind of like the result of previous life’s actions and what we’re experiencing the result, it sometimes it can be quite difficult to be coping with the results when, you know, in this lifetime, we may not have been contributing to what would have created the result. So how does one overcome that kind of negative where where you’re experiencing the negative result? But this lifetime, you haven’t really You haven’t really done anything connected to it, isn’t it? So so Geshe explains it in terms of of cause and effect, again, of the law of karma and and and effect.
And says, if and I I was given the example of of of a serious illness, like cancer or something like that. And I was saying I was saying if if if you fall, if if you because that is the answer. If if you cannot see how you have contributed in any way in the present life with any causes or conditions that lead to that result, then then you have already the answer because all that is left is the cause and conditions from previous lifetimes. It’s the karma from previous lifetimes. And that’s that’s the only way to look at it, if that wasn’t saying, because nothing comes uncaused.
So if there is a a great suffering that you are experiencing right now, it doesn’t come out of no cause. It has has to have a cause. If you cannot find the cause in the present life, then it is in the past life. And then Geshe-la is saying, and and yet, even even in this very life, it is very hard for us to to really come and say, you know, I haven’t accomplished the causes for such painful experiences to arise in this life because we have accumulated so many evil karmas, evil actions in this present life alone. Know how many times we have accumulated the karma of killing alone.
We don’t have to actually kill somebody to accumulate the karma of killing. You can certainly accumulate the karma by just rejoicing on the killing of other people in wars, on the television, and whatnot. So we have accumulated already so much evil karma even in this present life alone. So it’s it’s it’s even hard to to separate the the the painful experience that we are experiencing from from even this life, from even this present life. English lives in Spain.
For example, giving a decision. If there’s somebody that we dislike very much and and, you know, one day that person that we dislike very much falls sick, that’s falls ill. And when we when we learn that that person is ill, what we do is is we rejoice as well deserved. How how do we say that in English? Served him right.
Served Served him right. And, you and we rejoice in that. And doing that alone, just doing that alone with our thoughts, you know, we’re just rejoicing. I served him right. That alone is is a huge negativity, Geshe-la says.
It’s a very powerful negativity. So it is very it’s very hard to say that, you know, I haven’t accumulated the the karmas or the causes to experience great suffering in this life. And and even if that was the case, even if you haven’t accumulated the causes for experiencing great suffering in this life, those those great sufferings that we’re experiencing in this life, then the answer still remains that we we would have then certainly accumulated it in previous lifetimes. So again, every happiness that you experience, every suffering that you experience, whatever it may be, whatever happens, whatever suffering that that that may be that we experience, we have to understand that. We have to look at it as being the result of our actions.
This is how this is how we have to train our minds. So, I guess, I’m gonna say we have to understand that we have to come to to terms that we are to experience, and we are experiencing the results of actions that we have performed, not actions that we have not performed. We experience and we will experience the results of actions that we have performed, the result of karma that we have accumulated. And the main cause, the causes, the main causes are with us. Now we have many other conditions.
We have people who work as conditions. We have maybe food, we have the weather, they work as conditions for the ripening of those causes. But the causes, Geshe-la was saying, the main causes are within us. We have accumulated. We have performed.
And that’s how we have to look at it. So again, if we if we if we have not performed an action, then we will not experience the result of those actions. So we have not accumulated the karma. We will not experience the result of that karma. I know.
I I have small awareness that this life is the result of my previous karma committed. Small awareness of that whatever is happening in this lifetime is because of my previous actions. I I I understand that. What it is is is coping with those, And sometimes it’s quite traumatic actions where even as they’re happening, you know, I’m sort of going, oh, you know, oh my god. You excuse me.
I can really see that it it it’s an effect that is happening from a cause that I have no remembrance of in this lifetime. But trying to overcome To quote? Or counteract or eliminate that type of of of karma. You know, sometimes it is just truly beyond me. I mean, yes, you could you can remain silent.
You can remain patient. You know, you can try exchanging self for others. You can be compassionate, you know, but, you know, still sometimes the of it, you know It’s overwhelming. Well, overwhelming to the point that that resignation sets in, which then becomes quite complicated karma because you you don’t actually have, you know, joyous enthusiasm to to progress and and to engage with peoples and and and and and one’s life, you know, because so you understanding and following what I’m where I’m trying to come from? And if Geshe was you feel Geshe was he has asked in a way.
I I’m aware of my karma to receive this result. But but But then the the suffering must have been such a foul person in other life. You know? That that, you know, this lifetime is you know, like, might as well just, you know, close my mouth So so, yeah, I I I think I got a gist of what you were saying. You know, I think I I personally also have the same difficulties that you have, or I think everybody else has also.
So so I was asking them. So, you know, we we we do have times, okay, in which we experience this this great sufferings, this great pains. And and, yes, we can think we can easily think we can bring to mind, okay. This is a result of my karma. We think that.
And we think, oh, I should take, you know, all these people’s sufferings and give them happiness and all that. It’s easy to think. It’s it’s very hard to to really do it with our hearts, those those things. And and yet and yet we have to persist. Geshe-la was saying what we have to do is keep on training our minds to see it in this light, in the light of it being our karma.
So, yes, it is our karma. And the good news is it is being burned right now. It is being exhausted right now. It is not going to last. How do they say that?
These two shall pass. Is that it? Yes. They shall pass. Impermanent.
Yes. And then we have we have just shall pass. We have to just persist in training our minds in viewing those situations in in this life. Okay. This is not gonna last.
This is this is a this is just a cause. Know, brought about by condition. It is being burned right now. It’s not gonna last. At one point in time, it is going to be finished.
And when it’s finished, after that, what what I’m bound to experience, if the if the suffering results if the suffering causes have been burned out, what is what we’re left with is with happiness, the causes of happiness. And we have to see it in that light. We have to look at it in that light so that we can relate to it with more lightness, with with less with less mental suffering. So again, the other way around, if we if when we are experiencing this difficult situations or suffering and pain and all that, and we say, oh, geez. I’m I’m suffering so much.
This is so hard. This is so painful. And we we go on thinking like that. Then what we are doing is just really compounding the problem and making the suffering, multiplying the suffering tenfold. We’re not really alleviating the suffering by thinking in this manner.
We when we think in this manner, those this type of thought just helps the suffering. It only amplifies the the experience of the suffering. And if you are if you are not able to think in in the lines of actions and the results of karma and all that, then then maybe just attempt to think of something else. Think of something else altogether. Think of of of a happy circumstance, a happy time, you know, happy the happy place, so to speak.
Go to your happy place and and and stick with it, but not don’t I don’t know. Just don’t give in to the thoughts that are going to increase the suffering to amplify the suffering. So if if if one sorry, everyone. I’m just trying to get to in this situation where, you know, the mental suffering does, you know, you’re aware that it’s an effect. Your mind is engaged in thinking of of this is the effect that, you know, that may cause you.
If one, you know, in in a small way, of course, it it is engaged in in that way of thinking. And yet, you know, the the the negative results still come. Is it better to withdraw from those situations because one doesn’t really have the the wisdom to handle someone else’s thinking can cause an effect. You know? If you’re you’re having continuous arguments with someone, then, you know, that’s an effect.
And so you kind of have to bear it and and run through it. But, you know, sometimes, not not necessarily only talking about myself. You know, you see other people’s lives where, you know, it’s just like whammy whammy, you know, situation after situation that, you know, their life is like a soap opera, a saga. You know, it’s just horrendous, the suffering that they they have and and the the the extraordinary things that’s happening around. I mean, is it better to just withdraw from those situations?
So, Geshe-la was saying, with regards to the arguments that we have with other people, if we are arguing with with somebody else, again, Geshe-la is pointing out to to the fault in us, we have to seek the fault in us. If we haven’t done something unpleasant or or or something faulty from our own side, then there will be no reason to argue at all. Also, we might we might be arguing because the other person is not doing as we want the other person to do, as we think they should do, and and then we argue because of that too. So we have to we have to see again, Geshe-la was pointing out that the fault is within us. If we arguing arguing, again, the sword the the the the fault of that happening is again within us, Geshe-la points.
Geshe-la is saying it is best not to argue at all because arguing gives rise to a lot of anger, to a lot of hatred. And contribute to the solution of the problem or whatever the challenge may be. It doesn’t contribute to the solution of the challenge to the to overcoming the challenge at hand in any way. It arguing does not harm the other person, the person that you are arguing with in any way. It only harms oneself.
And Geshe-la was quoting this saying. It’s a it’s a it’s a saying. It’s a Tibetan saying that says, I have to find the words in English now, speaking smoothly, then you are able Okay. Okay. Okay.
Okay. So And this one Tibetan word that I’m not familiar with, but it sort of means if if one if we are gentle with gentleness, we are able to accomplish what we want. We are able to to get what we want or to accomplish what we want. And if we and then if we’re using words, hard words, harsh words, then we we we damage only ourselves. We we only damage ourselves.
We only hurt ourselves. It there’s there’s a play with words there. They use the same Tibetan word, but I’ll just say it’s like honey and vinegar. Something like that. Something like that.
Okay. So I’m trying to think of of I’m not gonna be able to translate it properly now, but but it’s this if if if you are gentle if you are gentle with gentleness, you can you can win or you can you can overcome the situation. You can overcome the problem. If you if you are harsh, then you lose. You overcome only yourself.
You you really just only lose. Then do not argue. Speak speak gently. Just be be gentle. And in this manner, you will be able to to get what you want.
Whilst whilst arguing, you won’t be able to get what you want. Alright? Come, mister Namba, would be so kind would you be so kind to read the dedication, please?