Audio recorded at Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 83-minute teaching, Geshe Jampa Gyaltsen draws on Śāntideva’s Bodhicaryāvatāra to show how all suffering—whether physical or mental—arises from causes within the mind, not from external conditions alone. Using concrete examples (a football match, tinnitus, food preferences, walking on hot coals), he demonstrates how the five sense consciousnesses and sensory objects create suffering only when mediated by desire and anger rooted in self-cherishing. He then explains how understanding this leads to definite emergence or renunciation—not escape to the mountains, but a stable, independent happiness that arises when one sees through cyclic existence. The teaching maps these insights onto the path of the middling scope in the Lamrim: generating the wish for liberation by reflecting on suffering, its origins, and the twelve limbs of dependent origination. The talk concludes with a lively Q&A in which he clarifies the distinction between ignorance grasping at self and self-cherishing, and addresses how mental training can override physical pain.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 2015-09-30 – KR.mp3
UUID: 0b02999a-8ea7-4e58-bed6-e7a58ac7c1d8
Teacher: Geshe Jampa Gyaltsen
Collection: Grounds and Paths
Date: 2015-09-30
Recorded at: Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide
Words: ~3,372
So as Śāntideva, the son of the conquerors said in his Bodhicaryāvatāra in two extremely profound and beneficial verses in brief, whatever suffering there is within the mind, this suffering must have been engendered within. We shall explain definite emergence in the light of this verse. So regarding the term suffering in this quote, we can distinguish all the sufferings in this world into two broad categories, physical and mental suffering. Physical suffering arises in dependence on its own cause which are exterior physical entities or phenomena. So when we in keeping with Śāntideva’s stanza understand that to relinquish suffering we must relinquish the causes of suffering within the mind.
We must initially understand that the cause of suffering is to be found within the five sensory consciousnesses. So obviously there are numerous possible objects of attainment such as full enlightenment, liberation, the 10 grounds, the five paths but these are basically completely meaningless for us at present. We are unable to attain them. So in keeping with someone who before engaging on a voyage makes the requisite preparations for the trip, we should focus on our present condition of what we have now. So to understand clearly how physical suffering arises from the five sensory consciousnesses and the five sense organs, let us take the example of a movie or a show.
Now when you watch a movie, there are numerous dances and games on the movie with various artful movements, especially in Indian movies of the hands and so forth. Then if we watch a game on television, let’s say a football game, at the beginning obviously who watches a game wishing to enhance their suffering? People watch games or shows to increase their happiness and to decrease the overall level of suffering and as the teams assemble on the football ground, at the beginning everyone is happy on both sides. The public is happy as well but the end result in ninety nine percent of the cases is that one team will win and the other team will be deflated. Now the team which loses is going to be profoundly saddened as well as all its supporters.
They will return home in a depressed state and maybe for a week or so, they will be unable to eat or to sleep well. This is something we understand directly from experience. Then all of us obviously we want to eliminate suffering and we want to realize happiness. But for this we must target precisely the causes of suffering. So in the case of physical suffering, clearly, suffering arises from the sense consciousnesses, obviously, at times mediated by the mental consciousness.
So this is for something which arises from the visual consciousness. Now from the auditory consciousness, we all know that when people meet, at first when they start talking, the conversation is sort of average but it is unavoidable that within a matter of minutes and certainly after an hour, they should start talking about objects of desire and objects of anger. It is inevitable. So I have nothing in particular to say about olfactory consciousness but if we take gustatory consciousness, we can clearly see how the experience of exterior physical objects due to gustatory consciousness is a cause of suffering. If the food we eat is incorrectly cooked, if it is too salty, not salty enough, then we get digestive problems or if we choose not to eat, then we suffer from hunger.
And then clearly, the moment you have to take care of your health, there is even greater suffering involved isn’t there. Then when it comes to the afflictions, it is obvious that the afflictions even though they are mental are contingent on contaminated physical aggregates such as this body of flesh and blood and this body of flesh and blood in turn actually depends on exterior physical objects. It is quite odd when you think about it how all of this is connected. Then the suffering which arises from the bodily consciousness is self evident. When we are too hot, we must find a way to cool our body.
When we are too cold, we must find a way to heat it up. In every single case, it is however the desire and the anger which is present within our mind stream and which is based upon these contaminated physical aggregates which gives rise to suffering. And here we can understand it clearly Śāntideva’s quote to be able to relinquish the suffering within the mind, one must first definitely engage its causes. Such suffering can only be relinquished once its causes are identified. And therefore it is critical for us to be able to identify clearly these causes and the abode of cyclic existence which is none other than this world of ours, these contaminated aggregates of ours as Jetsün Chöpa says in his Foundation of Good Qualities.
And therefore this stanza, Śāntideva’s stanza to relinquish suffering within the mind one must definitely engage its causes clearly is applicable as far as exterior physical suffering is concerned but it is also contingent to interior suffering. For instance, irrespective of the amount of wealth we may have, even should this wealth continue to increase, Nonetheless, we all know that people do experience suffering in these situations. This is mental suffering and the causes of such suffering are self evident. They are none other than desire and anger. And therefore in keeping with the verses which say that within which one dwells is the abode of cyclic existence that which one establishes is none other than cyclic existence.
And this is self evident. If I project myself back in time when I first left my homeland and came to India, India seemed like a marvelous country and yet year by year, month by month, it seems that the difficulties and the hardship has increased. Then when I came to Australia, Australia seemed like a marvelous country, a country of peace with a marvelously well maintained environment, a clean country. Then whether this is due to karma, to the laws, to the principles which rule the country, I do not know. However, year after year, year, month after month, day after day, things seem to have been getting worse and worse.
Then this corroborates the first verse, wherever one dwells that is cyclic existence and indeed however good the exterior conditions, whether one has a husband or wife, children, whatever. Nonetheless it seems to get worse and worse day by day. This is due to our own interior desire and anger. So if we are honest with ourselves, all the suffering we experience in a country like this one is mental suffering, isn’t it? There are no physical causes for suffering in a country like this.
Yet, I recognize that when I came from India to Australia, I felt over time that suffering had increased and this really corroborates the verse which says, wherever one is, there is cyclic existence. It would have been marvelous if traveling from India to Australia, one’s mind had changed but even though the weather changes when one travels from India to Australia, one’s mind doesn’t seem to change at all. Then indeed there are differences between the countries as far as language or diet is concerned. But these differences are astonishingly superficial in what matters, in other words, the afflictions, there is not one iota of difference. Desire and anger are the same in India as in Australia.
Their manifestation may be slightly different, that’s all. For instance, the more you know English, the more problems you have because the more you the more you understand what’s happening around you. From a certain standpoint, you better not know any any English at all. The moment you start to understand English, all the trouble begins. They pour it all on you.
So the more we think about it, the more we can see that cyclic existence has no essence. It is like the play of a child. Really, it is like an illusion if you understand what an illusion is. When cyclic existence arises, basically we are deceiving ourselves. Now when one has thought about this carefully, one understands it, then definite emergence or renunciation will arise.
Definite emergence does not mean to go up somewhere up in the mountains. That is useless. Do you understand? Really? So think about this by yourselves and if you think about it, I think you would understand.
Then you might say and you have the right to say, well after all, Geshe-la is a monk, He doesn’t have to work for a living. He just takes it easy and lives comfortably. And I don’t know about the comfortably aspect but I don’t have to work for a living that is true. However, this is true irrespective of all of this. And the second verse as you remember says, wherever and whatever one does, one just establishes cyclic existence.
It is actually very difficult to gain stable realizations of any type irrespective of the person and where they live and particularly when the goal is a stable form of happiness. If one is able to generate a stable form of happiness, one is on a good path towards gaining some type of renunciation or definite emergence. And therefore, once one is able to generate an independent happiness, an autonomous happiness, a happiness which is bereft of discontent. At this point, one is on good way towards generating renunciation or definite emergence. And so this has to be the goal we set ourselves.
And therefore at present when one tries to generate renunciation, one is trying to generate the thought why would it be unsuitable or inappropriate for myself not to be happy and to generate this thought in an uncontrived natural spontaneous fashion. Just in the same way as probably 99% of us automatically have breakfast when we get up in the morning, probably nobody abstains from this. So these are the uncontrived attainments of the path of the middling scope, uncontrived renunciation. At this point, one has definitely transferred from the path of the being of the small to the path of the being of the middling scope. Then even if one is unable to do this, if one is able to reflect on the deficiencies, the faults, the defects of this world and this situation of ours and think, oh my, then one would have generated something like a contrived renunciation.
So in brief, it should be evident that all our sufferings arise from the afflictions which are none other than desire and hatred and desire and hatred or desire and anger are rooted in what? They are rooted in self-cherishing. This feeling putting oneself first. Do you understand? Do you understand clearly how as self-cherishing increases in power, anger, jealousy and desire become more powerful as well.
Do you understand? 100%? Really? So if you truly understand this, then you will naturally be keen to expel self-cherishing, in other words egoism from your mind stream. Since for so long as self-cherishing or egoism is present within one’s mind stream, then one will continue to be reborn over and again within cyclic existence.
Then here there are numerous different possible meanings for self-cherishing or egoism. It can be understood as identical with the ignorance which apprehends a self, it can be understood as different from this. In either case, as we understand its defects and as we force it to dwindle eventually the afflictions which arise from it dwindle too, even though we are unable like an Arhat to completely eradicate the ignorance of self grasping from within our mind stream. Then one should analyze carefully what is the root of this hardship we are experiencing. Can this root, this ignorance grasping at a self be eliminated or not?
Do I have the capacity to do this or not? If I do eliminate it, what will I attain as a goal such a thing as liberation or something else? Then reflecting in this way, let us try to generate the motivation during a couple of seconds. So there’s not a lot left to add regarding the generation of the mind striving for liberation. The core of the outlines of both Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand presented the path of the being of the middling or shared with the being of the middling scope as subdivided into two.
Generating the wish for liberation through reflecting on the noble truth of suffering and the origin of suffering and generating the wish for liberation through reflecting on the 12 limbs of dependent origination. Actually, the noble truths of suffering and of the origin of suffering are concise presentation of the 12 limbs and the 12 limbs are a developed presentation of the noble truths of suffering and of the origin of suffering which themselves are none other than a development of what cyclic existence is. So in a nutshell, to develop the wish for liberation, we must understand the faults of cyclic existence. And therefore, the subdivision of the path shared with the being of the middling scope into the means of generating a wish for liberation through reflecting on the noble truths of suffering and the cause of suffering and the means to generate a wish for liberation through reflecting on the 12 limbs are simply different means of understanding the thought of the fundamental root of cyclic existence which is the ignorance which grasps at a self. This is why Pabongka Rinpoche in Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand says, presenting the outline in brief and then focuses on a presentation of just this ignorance whose faults must be understood.
So these are the faults of self-cherishing if we are actually able to cause self-cherishing to dwindle or even disappear, we will cause desire and anger to dwindle or disappear. Otherwise, through self-cherishing, in other words, ignorance, we will be caught in the cycle of the 12 limbs over and again. Then you told me that you had understood what ignorance was and therefore you have understood its faults. So ignorance or the ignorance which grasps at a self, beginningless ignorance in other words is the first of the 12 limbs and to target it, we need to oppose it with its direct contrary which is none other than the wisdom realizing emptiness. This is something which we would explain progressively.
Stop here tonight and then So we shall stop here for tonight. At present, I will take questions. Only one question per person please, concise and clear and when all the questions are finished, if you have a second question then you may ask it. If if one can realize the wisdom that the the concept of of the self is none other than a mental label put on the five aggregates, then is this realizing of non self grasping? So the ignorance which grasped at the self is a consciousness then clearly a label is not a consciousness.
A name is not a consciousness. Self grasping is a mind therefore it will be included within the aggregate of consciousness but this is a bit difficult. If a name is not a consciousness, a name gives rise to a consciousness. Would it be correct to say this? Yes.
Definitely. Since in dependence on names, we understand many things. I guess you’re taught that when we have attained uncontrived renunciation at this point, one is definitely transferred from the path of the being of the small to the path of the being of the middling scope. So then just to clarify that entering the path of the middling scope is an attainment of definite emergence rather than the practices leading up to that attainment? No, it’s not the case that one must have generated uncontrived renunciation before entering the path of the being of the middling scope.
They are simultaneous. The attainment of uncontrived renunciation is the beginning of the path of the being of the middling scope. Geshe-la. I think that Geshe-la said that physical suffering is obviously mediated by the mental consciousness. Can there be any physical suffering without a mental consciousness?
Yes, it is possible specifically in an Arhat where even though there is indeed physical suffering, hunger, thirst, nonetheless this does not give rise to mental suffering within the mind of the Arhat. However, for ordinary beings such as us, all of us in this room, then physical suffering such as a hunger does manifest mentally. I’m not sure if I can that I’m thinking along the same lines as Richard, but I can reach quite an absurd conclusion and the conclusion I can reach is that there’s no such thing as physical suffering because there is no physical entity that suffers. It’s only suffering is only ever mental. Neither am I.
So basically as far as Arhats are concerned, if one were to become an Arhat, then there is no mental suffering of any type. There does remain physical suffering. Then for ordinary beings such as ourselves, I think perhaps what you’re trying to say is that there is only physical suffering. Generally speaking, Buddhist texts explain that suffering is subdivided within two, physical and mental suffering. However, suffering naturally if one analyzes has to ride the winds and therefore in its nature is mental.
Yeah, all right and yes. This is following on from that issue as well. I’m confused. I have a doubt about the nature of physical suffering being caused by exterior phenomena. For example, there is a condition called tinnitus.
It is a constant sound in the head. It is a phantom sound but it’s made by the nerves in the ear. So it’s physical. But mostly from a lot of people that have it, they it drives them nuts. But it’s something that you definitely have to deal with.
But it’s not exterior. It’s all inside the system. So I have a doubt about the exterior nature of the cause of So I explained to Geshe-la tinnitus in a sense is akin to for the ear what cataract is for the eyes and inner thought. Then Geshe-la says that when we say that physical suffering arises in dependence on an exterior condition, that is not necessarily a present exterior condition. For instance, the sound of an echo arises in dependence on a previously heard sound.
He wonders whether tinnitus would not originate ultimately from a previously heard sound as well. This is not something I’m fully clear about but we’ll see later. Want to ask a question about some people they are trained to walk over the hot coal, you know, fire? Is it that they are trained to, you know, mentally to ignore pains in the physicality? So Geshe-la said that it is through the power of mantra, it is possible through repeating mantra to be able to obviate this feeling of pain.
I mentioned to Geshe-la, this has been briefly studied scientifically. There is some evidence that it is due to the production of water vapor from the sweat at the soles of the feet which prevents burning from happening for so long as a person basically believes they won’t get burnt after which they do get burnt. There is a possible scientific explanation. Geshe-la mentioned that there’s a the ignorance that grasps at the self and self grasping can be seen as the same or different. Maybe I misunderstood that, but could Geshe-la please explain if there’s any distinction between the ignorance that grasps itself and self grasping?
Maybe between self-cherishing and ignorance grasping at the self is what you’re asking. So there are two differences. First, the self-cherishing which is explained in Śāntideva’s Bodhicaryāvatāra refers to that self-cherishing which does not wish to give up one’s body as opposed to the ignorance grasping at a self. More generally speaking, if you take a hearer Arhat, there is within the continuum of a Śrāvaka Arhat there is self-cherishing even though they will have abandoned the ignorance of self grasping.
So probably that’s it. We shall stop here for tonight.
Key terms in this teaching
- arhat dra chom pa (Tib)
- The Tibetan translates as "foe destroyer." A person who has destroyed their inner enemy, the delusions, and attained liberation from cyclic existence. LYWA
- contaminated aggregates zagchä kyi phung po (Tib)
- The aggregates of an ordinary being that are contaminated by the seeds of delusion and therefore pervaded by suffering because they are controlled by delusion and karma. LYWA
- cyclic existence samsara (Skt); khor wa (Tib)
- The six realms of conditioned existence, three lower - hell, hungry ghost and animal - and three upper - human, demigod and god. LYWA
- dependent origination pratityasamutpada (Skt); ten drel (Tib)
- Also called dependent arising. The way that the self and phenomena exist conventionally as relative and interdependent. LYWA
- five paths lam nga (Tib, Wyl)
- The five stages of spiritual progress - the paths of accumulation, preparation, seeing, meditation and no more learning - set out for each of the three vehicles; the Mahayana five paths culminate in buddhahood. LYWA
- grounds and paths sa lam (Tib)
- Various advanced mental states that are achieved through meditation and practice. LYWA
- self-cherishing dag che par dzin pa (Tib)
- The self-centered attitude of considering one’s own happiness to be more important than that of others. LYWA
- self-grasping dag dzin (Tib)
- The mind that apprehends the self as inherently existent. This refers to both the self of persons and the self of phenomena. LYWA
Definitions adapted from the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive glossary, as taught in the Gelug tradition.
Questions answered in this teaching
Can physical suffering occur without it giving rise to mental suffering, as the question about physical suffering without a mental consciousness asks?
Yes, this is possible specifically in an Arhat. An Arhat can experience physical suffering, such as hunger and thirst, and yet this does not give rise to mental suffering in the Arhat's mind. For ordinary beings, however, physical suffering such as hunger does manifest mentally. So the difference lies in whether the physical discomfort is accompanied by mental suffering: it is for ordinary beings, but not for an Arhat.