Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 45-minute teaching, HH Sakya Trizin introduces the core practice of parting from the four attachments, the essential path of all Buddhas condensed into a profound form. He begins by honouring his root guru Ngor Ponlop Jampa Lungrik, abbot of Ngor Monastery, through which he received this teaching, and recites the lineage guru prayers to invoke blessings. He then establishes the essential conditions for receiving teachings: cultivating the right motivation of seeking enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings, maintaining respectful physical posture and mental focus, and avoiding three critical faults of receptiveness—a closed mind like an inverted cup, a scattered mind like a leaking cup, and a mind contaminated by pride, attachment, anger, and competitive intentions, which would mix the medicine of dharma with poison. He frames the teacher-student relationship as doctor and patient, the teaching as medicine, and shows how listening itself contains all six perfections of a bodhisattva when approached with proper intention.
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File: 05 FfK.mp3
UUID: 18f30fd8-fb25-4d33-aa62-64e1f971a939
Teacher: HH Sakya Trizin
Collection: Freedom from the Known (HH Sakya Trizin)
Date: 1988 (exact day not recorded)
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 45.2 minutes
Words: ~2,870
My main root guru. As in our tradition, of course, we have many I have many root gurus, many gurus that I receive teaching. But my main root guru is the abbot of the is actually the second most important monastery of our tradition. Sakya order is is the one. And then we within Sakya order, we have a subsect, the Ngor and Tsarpa and Zhalu.
He is the abbot of the monastery. This monastery was established In the fourteenth century by the great who was actually born in the current lineage and study in his main Sakya monastery. But then he wished to establish monastery in a kind of retreat center. In the initially, it was like a meditation center. And so Ngor Monastery is actually about, roughly speaking, maybe fifty, sixty miles from Sakya monastery and in a very secluded place.
And there, he first start the monastery as a retreat center, but later it became very important monastery where many of his had great disciples, and they were sent to all over the Tibet, not only in Tibet, but in many even as as far as India and Nepal and and China and so forth. And so it had many, many branch monasteries. So within our tradition, the Ngor monastery is actually very, very important. It is almost equivalent of the the Drepung monastery. Within the Gelug tradition that you have a Ganden and Drepung and Sera, the three most important monasteries.
So similar to this to us, the Sakya is the main the first monastery, but then the second is the monastery. So this my main root guru is the abbot of this monastery. This monastery has ever since from the great master Kunga Zangpo himself, there were many great successors. And and the recent time, the my main guru, whose name is Ngor Ponlop Jampa Lungrik, was a very great master, not only in our order. Even the other orders also treat him as once their own guru and became very famous.
And there was at that time, there’s almost no one who is not following his who is not receiving teaching from him. So he was the real great master. And, of course, in reality, that he is a real great Vajracharya. But even for our ordinary eyes that he possess infinite qualities. One example is that when he was traveling in Kham area at one time visiting a Nyingma lama, who was also a very great master in his it is also a kind of a meditation center, retreat center in a very secluded place.
And, of course, and there is no way to retain the any information before his arrival. But this Nyingma lama, he had a dream, a very clear dream, saying that today you will have a great bodhisattva who have got a high realization visiting you. And so he’d be wondering that who will visit me today. And then on that day, that my main guru, Ngor Ponlop was visiting. So this is just one tiny example of how great he was.
So from him that I received most of our own teachings, including the the parting from the four attachments, the profound teaching that I’m that we are going to do this weekend. So today is his day, and so it is a very auspicious occasion. And, of course, before we start the actual teaching course, it is a tradition to recite the lineage guru’s prayers because root of all the qualities lies on the spiritual masters. Without the spiritual masters, then we could not get the blessings of the buddha. Although so many Buddhas have come into this world, into this universe, so far, we’ve been not been able to get the blessings.
And so due to this, we are still caught up in this realm of existence. Although the buddha’s blessings are all the time bestowing to the sentient beings just like the the sun is all the time brightly shining in the sky. But many of the times that we do not see the sun. So similarly, although the buddhas all the time bestowing blessings, but due to our own karma, due to our own defilement that we will not been able to to receive so far. And at this moment, we do not see Buddha in person, and we didn’t so, therefore, we could not receive teachings directly.
So what we do is that we receive through the through the spiritual masters. Although the sun is brightly shining in the sky, but without the special instruments that one could not make the fire out of the sun. So although the buddha’s blessings is also all the time shining brightly in the sky, but without the help of the spiritual masters that we could not receive the blessings of the Buddha. So therefore, in general, and particularly in Mahāyāna teachings, that spiritual master is very important. So before receiving teachings that we must remember their kindness and to pay homage to the all the lineage gurus starting from the the lord buddha himself, then to his supreme disciple Mañjuśrī and so forth until the all the lineage gurus up till now.
And pray to them and so that and pray to be able to carry on the practice and not only that we understand the meaning but also to be able to apply in our life so that we will be successful in achieving the results. So with deep devotion and faith that you recite the lineage guru prayers. The lineage guru prayer has a special tune, so which you just all try to follow. We will do it slowly so that everyone can follow. So now to start the teaching, the first of all, that whenever you are receiving teaching, that it is very important to create the right motivation.
When you do not have the right motivation, then whatever practice you do that it does not become the right path. So it is very important to create the right motivation, which means that as space has no limit, the sentient beings also has no limits. And the limitless sentient beings who are all suffering and who all wish to have happiness. So for the sake of all those sentient beings as wide as space that one must attain ultimate enlightenment. And in order to get enlightenment that you are receiving this very deep and profound holy teaching and will diligently practice that whatever one learn, that one will diligently practice.
So to create such motivation is very important. And then also, as it is described in the sutras that right behavior such as, like, sitting on a low seat and physically and voice and mentally to sit in complete calmness, peaceful way, and one should look open the the master and teachings with a great joy. And just like drinking the the nectar nectar of words. And so with the very respectful form physically in a respectful form, voice in complete silence, mentally with the completely in concentrating, in one pointed concentration, with a very clear mind, pure mind, without any defilements, just like the patient listening to the doctor’s advice. And then with such thing that one should listen, which means that when you one is receiving, that one should not physically, like, lying down or bending or or facing the back to the teacher or the side to the teacher or etcetera.
One should avoid this, and with that one should sit possible in the cross leg or if not kneeling down with full respectful form. But, of course, there are always exceptionals. Those who are who cannot do physically, like the sick people who cannot sit and cross leg all the time and who cannot kneel down, who have to sit on the chair. So in some ways that if it is not possible physically, of course, it is always the permission is given. Lord Buddha has, of course, always given special to the sick people.
So in any case, the main thing is to to have the clear mind and to have the deep devotion. Because the reason why that we have to do this is that to come the Buddhas to appear into this realm is very rare, and we as humans to get human life is also very rare. So many difficulty conditions all gathering together here is very, very rare. So when you have all these right conditions that one should listen the teaching with a great interest, enthusiastic, and joy and with great interest. Also, it says that in the sutras that one should listen carefully, one should hold carefully with a pure mind, which means that, actually, there are three types of faults that one must avoid in listening in listening the teachings.
The number one fault is that, For example, if the container is put it upside down, then whatever you pour, then nothing will go inside of the container. So similarly, even though one is sitting in a religious course, spiritual course, but if one’s mind is not concentrating on the words and meaning, then it is just like container upside down that nothing could goes into your mind. And the second fault is that the container is upward position, in the right position. But if it has holes underneath, then whatever you pour in, whatever things that you pour into this container, it will comes out. So even though one is listening the teachings, but if one did not hold it, remember it, and hold, then one forgets everything.
When the teaching when you you reach the middle part of the teaching, you forget the beginning part. And when you reach the ending part of the the teaching, one forget the middle part middle part. And by the time that one leave one finish the teaching and leaves, that everything is forgotten and that one could not remember anything. So, therefore, second thing is very very important not to be like container with the holes that one should must hold. What one even it is a very little one.
The teaching that you wanna receive may be very little one, but that it is important to hold it. The third fault is the container is in average position, and it has no holes. But if it contains dirty things inside, then whatever good thing that you pour in, that when once it is mixed with the poison or something dirty, then it is not it is ruined. Whatever thing that you pour in, it is ruined. If if it contains dirty things and they’ve been mixed with so, therefore, it have to be clean.
Clean in a sense that free from pride. As the pride as we were saying that on the peak of pride on the pride, no qualities remain. So one has the pride, particularly in receiving teachings like this that to be pride from out of pride, pride of race, the pride of qualities, pride of discipline, etcetera, that such pride is and also disrespectful to the teachings, disrespectful to the master or not a real interest in the teaching. Or distraction, one’s mind is distracting on other things, and one’s mind is sort of going into the sinking or in kind of very sleepy or one’s mind is kind of tired of listening the teachings, etcetera. And particularly that to mix with one’s mind with the defilements and that by receiving this this teaching that I will give this teaching to other people so that that I will gain the wealth and prosperity and fame, etcetera, out of desire.
Or by listening this teaching, by learning this teaching that I can compete with the other fellow spiritual practitioners that so that they I can defeat them, etcetera, out of anger or out of jealousy and out of competition to do a competition, etcetera, are the the faults, the dirty things that are containing in a container. So if one mixes with such thoughts teaching, then it is like mixing a good food with a poison. Even though it may be a very good food, but once it is mixed with the poison, then it is not helpful. It is not worthy. So similarly, here also that wants you to very important to be a clean mind without any kind of defilements.
Receiving the teaching is to subdue defilements, to conquer defilements, to destroy defilements, And instead that if the teaching also becomes creates defilement, then it is like the medicine turning into a poison. So, therefore, it is very important for us to be very clear and pure minded. Free from the three faults of the three containers of the container. And then from from the disciple’s side as well as the from the master’s side that one must practice with a good intention, teacher as a doctor, the disciples as a patient, teaching as a good medicine, defilement, one should look at as a the terrible illnesses, and to practicing practicing it diligently, to performing it diligently is to receiving the treatments, etcetera. You know, there’s such a such a intention that one should receive.
And when one is receiving like this, then then the even the receiving the teaching itself contains the all the six perfection all the six perfections. The great activities of the bodhisattvas in order to ripen oneself practices are include into the six perfections. And the six perfection is actually one could apply even one while one is receiving the teaching itself by the guru as well as the disciples. For example, the the spiritual master who is giving the teaching, the words and meaning are explaining. So it is a giving, the perfection of generosity or the perfection of giving.
And so in from disciple side that in order to receive teaching that to make offerings, to make the mental offerings is the also a giving. So the perfection of giving is included. And the the second perfection, the perfection of moral conduct. Moral conduct means actually to abstain from to abstain from the non virtuous deeds. And by listening, by explaining, and by listening that one will know the what is the right thing to do and the what is the wrong thing that one should avoid.
So the moral conduct, the perfection of moral conduct is also practiced included in the teaching. And the third is the patience. While one is receiving teaching, that physically and mentally to be a patient, to practice it is a good chance to practice the patience, to to spend the time, to bear the difficulties, and to listening. So it is the patience. And the fourth perfection is the perfection of endeavor or the efforts is that to have a enthusiastic, to have a interest.
Endeavor means actually interest or the enthusiastic in practicing the virtuous deeds, and that one is listening the teaching here with a enthusiastic and with the interest. So it is the perfection of endeavor. Then concentrating on the meanings of the teaching. That fifth perfection is the perfection of concentration, and that is to meditate to the one pointedly concentrating on the teaching is the perfection of concentration. And the sixth one is the perfection of wisdom and that through the words and through the meaning that it can create the wisdom, that one will have the wisdom by listening the teaching.
So the teaching itself contains just by just by while one is receiving the teaching that one could practice the all six perfections. So this with this kind of things with this kind of things that the one receives the teaching, then it is a great benefit. And now the actual teaching itself. This particular teaching is actually the path of all the past, present, and future Buddhas, And it is the the essence of all the deep sutras. The Buddha’s teaching are actually like ocean.
Wide and deep and has many different levels of understanding, many different levels of meaning. So it is difficult to understand for ordinary person to all of it. But the great masters who have already reached a very high spiritual stage and who have got very high realization that they can take the essence out of the sūtra and make a short profound teachings so that even a ordinary person like us can, without difficulties, can practice. There are many different ways of practicing Dharma. More in a sort of academic way, more wider way to to study and to go through a very great detail.
And on the other side, there you have sort of essence all combined together in short form. So no need to study very vast things, but whatever one has study to apply into the practice. So this is actually the second part that it is the essence of profound teaching all combined together known as parting from the four attachments. The history of this particular teaching is that when the the great Sakyapa, Sachen Kunga Nyingpo, who’s actually the one of the founders of the Sakya order, When he was twelve years old, his spiritual master, since you are a son of a great