Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. Geshe Pema Tsering’s 99-minute commentary on Nāgārjuna’s Letter centres on the verse declaring that no practice rivals emptiness meditation for destroying the seeds of affliction. After a motivational opening on Buddha nature and countering self-defeating doubt, he explains why bodhicitta and compassion, however vast, cannot eradicate the root of ignorance — only direct realization of emptiness can. He introduces three reasonings (dependent origination, the one and many, and a vivid search through “Rodrigo’s” aggregates that finds no person anywhere), distinguishes analytical from calm-abiding meditation, and warns that calm abiding without emptiness risks becoming merely a cause for higher rebirth. A Q&A then examines how an arhat can realize emptiness yet remain trapped in the “extreme of peace” through residual self-cherishing — and why this makes training in bodhicitta alongside emptiness essential.
File metadata (for organising)
File: Geshe Pema Tsering – Nagajurnas Letter.mp3
UUID: eda084c5-1ab4-4067-8ccd-96b97d3ea811
Teacher: Geshe Pema Tsering
Collection: Unallocated multiple years (Geshe Pema Tsering)
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 99.4 minutes
Words: ~6,441
What I’d like to remind you of is One of my friends, what he said in the beginning and in the end, at the beginning and the end, two actions are important. So at the beginning, the action that is that is important is the motivation, and we give rise to the mind of enlightenment. So with that motivation in mind, then we engage in the then acquiring knowledge about the teachings. Engage in the three so called activities of the hearing, contemplation, and meditation of the teachings, and so on.
Here contemplation and meditation of the teachings so that we can accomplish the goal which is intended to in our motivation. And our motivation, which is this case the mind of enlightenment, is a mind that consists of total disregard for one’s own welfare and well-being alone, and is concerned solely with the welfare and the well-being of others. And when we’re speaking of others, just speaking of any other or anyone we want. We’re speaking of all other sentient beings without exception. And we’re talking about endowing all of them with every happiness.
And we’re talking about freeing all of them from every suffering and establishing them in that state, which is a state of enlightenment. In order to accomplish that, in order to be to be able to accomplish that, I myself must attain enlightenment. So in order to accomplish this enlightenment, I’m going to study, I’m going to contemplate, and I’m going to meditate on the teachings. And Geshe-la says, you know, at first, usually for beginners, when we hear of this mind of enlightenment, we hear this attitude that has no regard for oneself, then we only think of the welfare of others, and we think, how can I possibly do something like that? How can I possibly accomplish that?
I cannot do that. And this sort of self defeating thought is something that we have to get rid of. This is what we have to get rid of straight away. Because enlightenment is attainable. Many beings have attained enlightenment.
And there were beings just like ourselves when they started this endeavor. And they have accomplished a goal of enlightenment. So enlightenment is attainable. One can attain enlightenment. We, each one of us, can attain enlightenment.
Are perfectly capable of attaining enlightenment, Geshe-la was saying. So we have to bear this understanding in mind. There have been many enlightened beings. There are many enlightened beings. There will be many enlightened beings.
They all have started where we have started. So if they can do it, we can also do it. They were no different than we are right now. It’s important to bear in mind what the Buddha has said, that all sentient beings have Buddha nature. And the Buddha has said we have Buddha nature.
Each one of us here has Buddha nature. That means we have the Buddha potential, we have the potential to attain enlightenment. We all can attain enlightenment if we just practice. Geshe-la was again reiterating that there have been many Buddhas already, many beings who got enlightened, countless beings who got enlightened, Geshe says. And they started exactly where we have started.
So again, we all have Buddha nature. They have Buddha nature, we have Buddha nature. And so by practicing, we can attain enlightenment, we can develop this enlightenment. Geshe-la is saying, it’s important that we bear this in mind, and don’t give in to the self defeating thoughts. Because if we do not practice, if we do not engage in the causes, if we do not engage in the path that leads to enlightenment, then sure enough, we will not attain enlightenment, and we will just keep on roaming around cyclic existence.
And Geshe lah again is then giving us an illustration of the Buddha Śākyamūni himself, the historic Buddha himself, who at one point, again, was just like we are right now. He was just an ordinary being like ourselves. And by engaging in the path and the trainings that he got through from another Buddha, he attained enlightenment. He developed enlightenment. He worked his way all the way to enlightenment.
And so by following this heart instruction, this core instruction of the Buddhist path, he gave up concern. He had no concern for his own well-being alone, and developed a concern, a mind which is intent only on the well-being of all other sentient beings. And in this way, he attained enlightenment. And again Geshe-la is reiterating to us, saying, the way we have to think about it, Geshe-la is literally saying, the way way we have to think about it is that, again, there are many Buddha Bhagavans, there are countless Buddha Bhagavans out there who have attained enlightenment. And if I am to follow their instruction, the instruction of those who have attained enlightenment, if I engage in developing cultivating bodhicitta, the mind of enlightenment, and cultivating an understanding of emptiness until I realize emptiness, then I also can attain enlightenment.
There’s no reason why I should not be able to attain enlightenment if I don’t engage in the instructions of the Buddha. So again, Geshe-la is just reiterating to us and saying, again, if you don’t give in to any self defeating thoughts and if you practice in the in this way, there is absolutely no reason why one should not attain enlightenment, especially because if one exercises one’s discerning awareness, one’s intelligence, it only grows. It grows stronger, it grows brighter. So by any amount of time that you have engaged in studying the teachings or in contemplating the teachings, so for that amount, in proportion to that amount, your understanding grows deeper and brighter and clearer. Your intelligence grows stronger.
So if you keep on studying, if you keep on contemplating, if you keep on meditating, then your understanding will only grow stronger and stronger and deeper and deeper, wider and wider. So usually we do not think about the mind of an animal. We do not think about emptiness. We don’t engage in this contemplation. Usually, we just go along with whatever afflictive thought arises in our minds.
And this basically the way we go about our lives. And if we do not engage in the cultivation of those thoughts, they will not grow any stronger. We will just, again, we will just remain at the mercy of those habitual imprints that we have of the which are the afflictions. And as as they arise, we we we submit to them. Every time that they arise, we submit to them.
And we’re never making any effort to develop our understanding of emptiness and to cultivate our bodhicitta. They will never grow stronger enough to be able to oppose them. And so it is important that we engage in these activities, in this contemplation, in this cultivation, so that we can make our minds more vast, more profound, more deep, our understanding. We because I wasn’t saying if we set our minds to it, if we think about it, we can do it. We know that we can do it.
We can see how it is that we can do it. We just have to think about it. We just have to engage in this process, and we know that we can do it. So with these with these understandings in mind, develop this motivation again. I must attain enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings.
And in the same way that the Buddhas of the past done it themselves. They have developed bodhicitta, they have realized and have meditated, and so they have attained enlightenment, and now they do accomplish the well-being, the welfare of all sentient beings. So I will do it in the same way. I’ll cultivate the mind of enlightenment. I’ll cultivate an understanding of emptiness.
I’ll attain enlightenment, and I’ll accomplish the welfare of all beings. And with this motivation now in mind, then we start with our study, our contemplation, our meditation of these teachings. And by giving rise to a motivation in this way, by giving rise to the motivation of the mind of enlightenment in this way, then whatever activity we engage in in this day to day after we have given ourselves the motivation, is going to become the cause of just that, of the accomplishment of that motivation. It’s going to become the cause of enlightenment itself. And as such, it is going to bring to us an inexhaustible amount of benefits, of happiness.
Okay? This is a very powerful virtue that we create here today. So now we have attained this human rebirth, this precious human rebirth, and it can be made into something very, very meaningful. And it can be made into something meaningful if we are using this human rebirth in order to accomplish virtue. And when we’re talking about virtue, we’re talking about the causes that lead to liberation and enlightenment.
If that is how we are using this human rebirth then it becomes greatly meaningful. And on the other hand if we are not using it for that purpose then it doesn’t become very meaningful. If we are using our lives, if we are using this human life that we have attained, just to accomplish the happiness and the pleasures that pertain to this one life alone, to this present life alone, then that isn’t something which is especially human. Because even dogs and animals in general, they live with that motivation alone. They live their lives for the sake of the pleasures and the things of this present life that they have.
That doesn’t make our lives meaningful at all. That doesn’t make our lives special or different than that of animals. So it is important that we understand when we’re talking about the teachings of the precious human rebirth with all these freedoms and opportunities, we’re talking about using this human rebirth that we have in order to accomplish liberation and enlightenment. That’s what is being talked about. So with all this mind, we give rise to this thought now in our minds.
For the sake of the well-being, the greater welfare of all sentient beings, I will attain enlightenment. In order to accomplish that, I’m going to study the teachings. And we start then with the preliminary prayers. Gita, the Bhagavan, just as you have indicated, even the Tathagatas rejoice. The Bhagavan having thus spoken, the Venerable Śāriputra, the great being, the Ārya Avalokiteśvara, those surrounding in their entirety along with the world, the gods, humans, the asuras, and gandharvas, who overjoyed beyond, surrounded by the bodhisattvas, by the assemblies of the Buddhas of the ten directions.
By depending on my prostrations to all of you, may these words of truth be actualized. In the past, the divine king Indra dispelled the maras evil beings by reflecting on the profound meaning of the wisdom of the gone beyond and reciting the profound words in their recitation. In that same way, I also reflect on the profound meaning of the great mother Prajñāpāramitā and recite profound words in their recitation. May all diseases, poor possessions, bad conditions, all the negative influences, that which happens due to past karma and immediate conditions, may all this be dispelled, may it become nonexistent, may be pacified. So on the last so the topic that we are approaching now is concerns the way to habituate yourselves with making efforts at the antidote for the seeds of the afflictions.
So just explaining, so in the last Sunday, we have been going through the individual antidotes that are applied to oppose each particular affliction. And in particular, we were going through attachment last week. And now we are talking about an antidote that is going to oppose, that is going to get rid of the very seeds of the afflictions. And such antidote is not the same as those temporal antidote that is specific to which affliction. We’re talking here, in order to get rid of the seeds, in order to burn even the seeds of the affliction themselves, one must realize the emptiness.
One must realize the actual way that phenomena exist. In English, I was just going through the root verse, which reads, in order that you see the absolute, get used to truly understanding things. No other practices there such as these possess special virtues such as these. In English, I’ll just briefly explain it. So the first two lines of the verse are making reference to seeing the ultimate reality of things, and that is to realize emptiness, realizing emptiness.
And the way to realize emptiness is to realize the way, the correct way in which things or phenomena exist. And then the second half of the verse is making reference to no other practice is there such as these, possess special virtues such as these. And Geshe-la is explaining, so again, there is no other contemplation that is able to accomplish liberation and enlightenment like contemplation emptiness, like meditation on emptiness. Even though such contemplation, such practices as cultivating bodhicitta are extremely powerful, produce an immeasurable amount of merit, they’re very profound, they’re very vast, they’re very powerful. And in the same vein, again, great compassion, great love and kindness, and so on.
They’re very powerful practices, a very meaningful practice. But without the realization of emptiness, they are not able to burn away the seeds of the afflictions. If one wants to get rid of the very seeds of the afflictions, one needs to realize emptiness. This And the reason Geshe-la explained why is it that such powerful minds as bodhicitta and compassion, love and kindness are not able to oppose or to rid our minds of the seeds of the afflictions or to rid our minds of afflictions altogether. And it is because their way of apprehending phenomena does not directly oppose that of the cause of the seeds or of the imprints.
So Geshe-la was explaining, so their cause does not oppose the way of apprehension of the afflictions. Geshe-la was explaining, so the very root of all afflictions is the mind of ignorance. And from that mind of ignorance, then the seeds are planted in our mind streams, and then the habitual imprints take place, and all sorts of afflictions arise from that. So in order to be able to get rid of all the afflictions, one must get rid of the very root of the afflictions. In order to be able to get rid of the very root of the afflictions, one must have as an antidote a mind which is the direct opposite of that.
And such minds as compassion, bodhicitta, and loving kindness, they are not great and as greatly beneficial as they are, they are not the direct opposite of the mind of ignorance. And so the direct opposite of the mind of ignorance is a mind that realizes emptiness, is a mind that apprehends reality in an opposite way than the way that ignorance apprehends reality. And just going for the commentary to that verse then. So and the commentary has a lot of fancy language in it. So the commentary goes on and and tells us that by in order in order to be able to see with unmistaken wisdom this ultimate way of existence of all phenomena, then one must familiarize oneself through analysis with that wisdom, the perfect wisdom, the perfect discerning awareness that is investigating all outer and inner phenomena.
And by exercising that discerning awareness, that intelligence that is investigating all other phenomena, one must come to understand, one must come to develop certainty that there is not even a speck of dust of true existence, of true existence in any phenomenon whatsoever. And having developed this certainty, from then on, one must make sure that one habituates, one familiarizes oneself greatly with certainty, with that understanding. There is not one speck of dust of true existence in any phenomena. And by making effort in this habituation, and eventually, one will come to directly realize the selflessness of phenomena. And this is then the way to make effort in the practice that leads to the realization of the ultimate.
Just going for the very last bit of that long paragraph, which is saying that then by familiarizing oneself in this way, then one will come to direct realize selflessness. And this then is the way to meditate. This then is the way to make effort to exert oneself in the realization of emptiness. This is the way to meditate on emptiness, Geshe-la was saying. Now, in order to meditate on emptiness, one has to engage in many different reasonings.
Are many one has to study the scriptures, and study those teachings, those reasonings, which are expounded on the scriptures that are meant to lead us to the realization of emptiness. And there are many different reasonings. One can contemplate the reasonings on dependent origination. One can contemplate the reasonings of the one and the many. One can contemplate the reasoning of the diamond slivers.
And there are many different logical reasonings that will help one establish emptiness of phenomena. And when we’re talking about meditating, Geshe was saying the word for meditation is to familiarize, to habituate oneself. For us beginners, Geshe-la explains, the main meditation that we are practicing is not single point concentration or calm abiding meditation. What we are mainly engaging in is analytical meditation. It’s the development, the cultivation of our discerning powers that we are engaging.
And Geshe-la is explaining, so something like in terms of the placement meditation, it’s regarding single point of meditation, we have this main practice, which is calm abiding. Calm abiding meditation is a very powerful and a very good practice. It allows allows us to be able to place our minds undistractedly for any length of time in one particular object of observation, and work with that object. And that is very good. And we can also develop all sorts of clairvoyances and attainments and attain higher rebirths and so forth.
So it is a very powerful practice. It’s a very good practice. But if one has no understanding of emptiness, then there is a great danger that this practice of calm abiding might just become a very strong cause for one’s rebirth within cyclic existence and not for freedom. So the way that we have to engage in this process, I guess what I was going to say, again pointing out to the text, that this is the way to exert oneself in the realization of emptiness and the contemplation of emptiness. So once one develops that certainty in one’s mind of what emptiness is, one takes that idea, that concept that one has, and one meditates on that single point.
That is the object of one single point concentration meditation. And then one develops one’s calm abiding in dependence on that understanding of emptiness. And then that calm abiding becomes a direct antidote to cyclic existence, to saṃsāra. So that’s why it’s very important that we start to engage in these analytical meditations and teachings, we start to exercise our discerning power so that we can develop these certainties, these certain understandings in our minds. And it’s important then that we cultivate this understanding that phenomena do not exist in the way that they appear to exist.
Even though right now, the way we perceive phenomena is as if it existed in the way that it does appear to exist, we have to start cultivating this understanding that it doesn’t. It doesn’t exist in the way it appears to exist. It has no existence from its own side. And in order to be able to understand that, one has to engage in, one has to investigate reality by utilizing all sorts of different reasonings. One has many different reasons that one can utilize.
There is the reasoning on dependent origination, and there is the reasoning on the one and the many. And there are many other reasonings. And it’s not without a lot of study, a lot of listening to the teachings, a lot of studying the teachings, that one will be able to understand these reasonings and the ascertainment that these reasonings are meant to establish. And Geshe-la just explained briefly and very roughly the reasoning of the one and the many, saying that in a particular phenomena is not one thing which is inherent existence or that exists truly, and it is not many things that exist truly. It’s a bit complicated.
But if any phenomenon has many parts, and so the phenomenon is not one of those parts, the phenomenon is not many of those parts, the phenomenon is not the aggregation of those parts. There’s nothing in the phenomenon which there’s no true existence in the one, in the many, in the aggregation of the many, because that would be the same as many. This is one of these logical reasons that we utilize in order to ascertain the emptiness of phenomena. And again, these are no simple matters. Is not, again, Geshe-la was saying, just reiterating, it is not without studying in order to obtain that master’s degree or the PhD that we’re going to develop some ascertainment of these things.
So it’s not just by studying these texts alone is not enough. One really has to put quite a bit of effort in studying the texts. And another reasoning, again which Geshe is giving us very briefly and very roughly, is the reasoning on dependent origination, again which Geshe-la says, phenomena do not exist in the way that they appear to exist. So they appear to exist independently of any other phenomena, from their own side, to have existence, to exist from their own side independent of any other phenomena. But the fact is that phenomena do not exist as such.
Phenomena come into existence, phenomena do exist, in dependence on other phenomena, in dependence on many causes and conditions. And that’s how phenomena come into existence. That’s how phenomena exist. And there is no phenomena whatsoever that does not exist in dependence on other phenomena. And that being the case, then we say the phenomena are empty of true existence, phenomena are empty of inherent existence from its own side, phenomena are empty of inherent existence.
And then there’s another reasoning, I forgot the name of this reasoning, but there’s another reasoning. So take a person, for example. And then, for example. And if you look for Rodrigo in this whole set of aggregates here, and you you’re searching for Rodrigo. Where is Rodrigo in this whole set of aggregates?
And if you’re looking at the parts, at the limbs, at the organs, you look inside for Rodrigo, and you don’t find anything. There’s no Rodrigo to be found. There is not one thing which is Rodrigo. And Rodrigo is not the collection of all those parts either. If those parts are not Rodrigo, the collection cannot be Rodrigo.
If you look, if you investigate deeply enough, then you’ll see that there is no Rodrigo to be found. And there is only there is only the sound, the word Rodrigo. And even that is not Rodrigo. Even that is not the person. Even that person.
Even that is not myself. And so there is nothing to be found. There’s only there’s only a merely imputed person. But there is no existence. There’s no inherent existence of Rodrigo.
There’s no inherent existent person. There’s only a mere imputed person. Okay? And by engaging in these reasonings and coming to understand this lack of true existence of phenomena in this way, then one will see what is I was going to say, one using the honorific language here, one will see the ultimate reality. And then the second half of the commentary, which is pertaining to the second half of that verse, is making reference to the qualities of emptiness, of this meditation of emptiness.
There is no meditation like emptiness which is able to destroy the contaminated actions and the afflictions. There is no other practice which has such qualities, which has such capability. That’s why it is such an excellent practice. And that is why the meditation on emptiness alone praised as the greatest or the most powerful, how can I say, foe of the contaminated actions and the afflictions? The greatest destroyer of the contaminated actions and afflictions.
And we have then a quote from one of the Indian masters, which says, again, as for the great proliferation of the contaminated actions, the afflictions, and all sorts of afflicted concepts, the only thing that can stop them, this great proliferation of them, is emptiness. And Geshe-la was saying the same with regards to to all these to the contaminated actions and the afflictions, all these superstitions, and all the superstitions that we have, all the preconceptions or the prejudices that we have, it’s a very broad term, All these conceptual constructs that we have, they all originate from the contaminated actions and the afflictions. So Geshe-la is explaining, because we have been born within cyclic existence, we, out of ignorance, the afflictions arisen, thank you. Because of ignorance, the afflictions have arisen. And out of the afflictions, we have engaged in actions, so called contaminated actions.
And because of those contaminated actions, we have attained a rebirth. We have been born with inside the existence. And that is what leads us, that is what propels all this conceptual, distorted conceptual minds that we have. And the proliferation of all these distorted conceptual minds, the one thing that can stop, arrest the proliferation of these distorted conceptual minds is the realization of emptiness. So if we want to do that, if we want to stop the proliferation, then we have to realize emptiness.
So then, and by familiarizing ourselves with that, by cultivating this understanding of emptiness and eventually developing a solid, certain understanding of emptiness, then we are able to avert the appearances of true existence. And by continuous habituation or familiarization with that certainty, which is emptiness, which is the realization of emptiness, then we’ll be able to eventually directly realize emptiness without the help of the concept of our understanding of emptiness, with directly realized emptiness. And by continuous habituation, familiarization with the direct realization, then we can eradicate all the afflictions and all the imprints and all the seeds of the afflictions. And as we refine and we strengthen and we deepen our realization of emptiness, the more and more of the afflictions we get rid, the more and more of the seeds we get rid, until eventually we burn all of them and we attain liberation and enlightenment. So again, Geshe lah is in sense, so this meditation emphasis is praised as very great, as a powerful enemy of the contaminated actions and the afflictions.
So by realizing that phenomena do not exist in the way that they appear, and by continuous familiarization of that realization, then we are able to progressively eradicate all the manifest forms of the afflictions, all the imprints, all the seeds, until eventually we have developed a realization to such a point where we have eradicated all of them, we have then attained liberation, we have then attained enlightenment. And in this way, we can this is the power of the realization of emptiness. This is then the greatness of the realization of emptiness. This is then how we exert ourselves in the cultivation of emptiness. And Geshe-la is then just giving us a warning that by cultivating this emptiness alone, this realization of emptiness alone, if one goes and then engages in this cultivation alone, eventually will eradicate all the afflictions, all the imprints, all the seeds of the afflictions, and one will attain to the state of liberation.
But having attained liberation, one has not fully accomplished one’s own welfare and other’s welfare. So having attained liberation, there is still a great attachment to the happiness of liberation, which is the happiness of liberation, peace. And there is a great attachment to that. That takes place because one has not fully rid oneself, fully given up concern for oneself, self-cherishing. So in order to fully realize the perfect welfare of both oneself and others, from that point on, one has to give up that self concern, that self interest, that self cherish.
So again, such a being who has attained to this state of liberation and is still abiding there and remains abiding in that state of peace, is a being who is stuck in the extreme of existence. Is abiding in the extreme of existence. And it usually makes reference to, as Geshe-la was explaining, Samsāra. So that being is a foe destroyer. That being has freed herself or himself from cyclic existence and from saṃsāra.
But still, because that being is stuck in the peace of liberation, we still refer to that as abiding in the extreme of existence. And in order to be able to overcome this last obstacle, so to speak, one needs then to get rid of that self concern, of that self-cherishing. One needs to cultivate great compassion. By cultivating compassion, cultivation of that compassion, eventually one fully develops great compassion. And one comes to an understanding, one comes to that deep wish or determination, deep intention, wishes that all sentient beings be free from suffering, and that all sentient beings have attained a state which is free from suffering just like myself, just like the one I has attained, that all sentient beings have that, that all sentient beings can partake of this happiness.
And then from that moment on, from the moment of this realization of great compassion onwards, then that being has how can I say that has upgraded from the Hīnayāna to the Mahāyāna? What’s the word for that? That being has transferred from the Hīnayāna path, from the lesser vehicle, and every path, every activity then of that being becomes a path of the Mahāyāna, of the greater vehicle. And then by continuous cultivation of that compassion, the great compassion, eventually comes to develop one’s bodhicitta, one’s mind of enlightenment, And in this way one then fully develops what is the method wing, the method branch of enlightenment. And having fully developed bodhicitta and having already fully attained emptiness, fully developed emptiness, then one has the union of method and wisdom.
So bodhicitta being the method, compassion being method, and the realization of emptiness being wisdom. Phenomena, even the Dharma, even the Buddha Dharma, lacks inherent existence. There’s nothing whatsoever which has any inherent existence. And we say, we even say, you know, the Buddha is extremely precious. It has all good qualities.
It has no faults, and still all of it lacks inherent existence. If we were to exist truly, then we wouldn’t be able to attain enlightenment. We wouldn’t be able to better ourselves. We wouldn’t be able to get worse either. We wouldn’t be able to change in any way.
Exist truly. We we come about in dependence on causes and conditions. I guess I was gonna say, make reference to conditions now. So if we change conditions, and the conditions are good, then we improve, we get better. If the conditions are bad, then we get worse.
So Okay. I understand if there’s a question, if you’ve got to that understanding of the emptiness, liberation, and how compassionate you are or want. I’ll see what I can do, it’s a very good question, but I have to think about it. Just a minute, just a minute. Compassion or great These things are not easy to understand, but it’s like this.
There are beings. There are such beings. This can happen. There can be a realization of somebody who has a realization of emptiness and still does not have compassion. Has a Maybe you should say great compassion, because they do have compassion.
Yeah, I know. I was going to say that. Or maybe does not have and still does not have a fully developed compassion, is what I was going to say. Visualized and saying, because these are two different minds. So the mind of compassion is a mind that is caring.
It’s a care that wishes to see beings free from suffering. It’s not concerned with oneself. It’s concerned with others. And realization of emptiness of another mind, which is a mind that realizes the way the phenomena actually exist. They’re two different minds.
So one does not necessarily mean that the other is going to be present. If you realize the one does not necessarily mean that the other is going to be present. Can you see that? Intellectual, the spirit makes sense, doesn’t it? Now I wanted to go to what Chris was saying.
You said, how can we realize emptiness and still And still You still have attachment. Attachment to their Yes. Integration. How can that be? Yeah.
If you have realization, how can you have attachment? Right? That’s it. Yeah. I want to ask my I want to ask the question myself.
That’s why I’m So so I so I asked that I asked just that. So how can how can one possibly realize emptiness and then have attachment for that peace of emptiness sorry, for the peace of liberation? How one attain liberation and have attachment for the peace of liberation and still have attachment? Which I was explaining. So when we’re talking about attachment here, if I was the same word, that’s not the attachment of cyclic existence.
That’s not the afflictive emotion of attachment or the afflicted mind of attachment. That is not that wrong mind that is superimposing superimposing or is distorting, is a distorted apprehension of of of phenomena or anything like that. That is not the afflictive emotion of attachment. It is just that the the peace, bliss of liberation is just so great and there is so much of a liking for it. And due to the force of one’s still habituation with one’s habit of one’s concern for one’s own welfare and a lack of concern for the welfare of others, one just stays there abiding in that bliss.
There is not real attachment. There is not that is not an affliction that does not lead to suffering, but it’s just something that stops one from fully experiencing the perfect happiness of liberation. It’s something that stops one from experiencing the perfect bliss of enlightenment, a greater bliss, a greater happiness, which is a greater fulfillment, which is enlightenment. So it is not a cause of suffering, but stops one from experiencing enlightenment. So that being has not fully rid herself or himself of self-cherishing.
That being still cherishes or himself. That being still has a concern for his or her happiness or well-being. Hasn’t developed by the cultivation of compassion, loving kindness, and bodhicitta, he hasn’t developed a disregard for his or her own happiness and well-being, and an intent directed solely towards others. And it is by cultivating loving kindness, compassion, bodhicitta that one then remedies this situation. And Geshe-la is explaining, it is not to say that such a being, such a foe destroyers, arhat foe destroyers, that is, such a foe destroyers, does not have a mind that is concerned with others.
He or she does have a mind that is concerned with a great number of beings, a great number of beings, he or she can accomplish the welfare, can benefit a great amount of beings. But that being has not rid himself of that mind which is concerned with herself or himself alone. Okay? It still has that habitual momentum in there. That’s the key.
And that’s why we say that they are still caught up in what we call the extreme of existence. That’s in this context, it is referred to as the arhats, abiding the extreme of existence. You’re still caught up with that self-cherishing, not free from that. And Geshe-la was making a reference to being caught up in the extreme of peace. So these arhats, foe destroyers, they are caught up in this extreme of peace.
By cultivating the antidote to self-cherishing, by cultivating compassion, love and kindness, and so forth, then they can remedy that, and they can be transferred to the path of the great vehicle. I guess that was explained that there is a difference in the length of time that it takes for such a being that starts in the Hīnayāna path to attain enlightenment, and a being who has started in the Mahāyāna path attain enlightenment, there’s a difference. So somebody who has started straight away with the Mahāyāna path will attain enlightenment sooner or quicker than somebody who has started in the Hīnayāna path, has attained the state of an arhat, is caught up in this trap, which is the extreme of peace. And then we’ll have to work out his or her way out of this extreme of peace into enlightenment. So there is a difference in here, in this way, in this sense.
Is that all right? It would be so hard. What? It would be so incredibly hard once you attain peace to, yeah, to be. Yeah.
I should think so. So, and Geshe-la was saying yes, it is very difficult, it is extremely difficult, and that’s why we say that even though such a being has attained liberation, he hasn’t fully perfected his welfare. He’s not perfectly accomplished his or her own welfare and and and others because he hasn’t given up. He hasn’t let go. He or she hasn’t let go of that self-cherishing.
And Geshe-la was saying that’s why, because of all that, this is why we have to familiarize ourselves as much as we can with compassion, with bodhicitta, and leave as many habitual imprints as we are able to, cultivate as many habitual imprints as we are able to habituate ourselves with those minds so that eventually when we attain to our realization of emptiness and so forth, we won’t be caught up in this trap of the extreme of peace. And we’ll be on the Mahāyāna path. So that’s why it’s important that we engage in our training, and in our training we cultivate compassion, we cultivate bodhicitta, we cultivate our understanding of emptiness. We work with this together, and in this way we make sure that we go straight to enlightenment, to full enlightenment. Is that okay?
Yeah.