Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 43-minute teaching, His Holiness Sakya Trizin opens with a landmark verse from the Sakya tradition: if you have attachment to this life, you are not a religious person. He unpacks this through an ancient commentary by Jetsün Dragpa Gyaltsen, examining how moral conduct, study, and meditation become corrupted by worldly motivation. He shows concretely how each practice—keeping precepts to gain respect, studying to build pride and following, meditating to pursue fame—becomes a seed for lower realms rather than liberation. The talk then pivots to explain why detachment from this life is essential: he walks through four perspectives on the rarity of human rebirth—causally (few beings truly practice virtue), numerically (compared to hell beings and insects), by example (the blind tortoise and golden ring), and by examining the obstacles to birth as human. Directed at practitioners beginning serious study of the path.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 08 FfK.mp3
UUID: 33ebd18c-ef0b-4184-9bd5-01d6985a91d5
Teacher: HH Sakya Trizin
Collection: Freedom from the Known (HH Sakya Trizin)
Date: 1988 (exact day not recorded)
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 43.1 minutes
Words: ~3,027
So this taking refuge and the creation of enlightenment thought is that one should do with every practice, every meditation, every session that we do. But this morning, not only that it is the preliminary, but the main part main part of the teaching and the main part of the meditation. Also, since it is the beginning of the teaching that taking refuge and the creation of enlightenment thought is this morning’s session, the main part of the teaching, the main part of the meditation is also the this refuge and creation of enlightenment thought. So in this way, we have accumulated the the preliminary part of the teachings, explanation, as well as meditation practice. So with this, we conclude the morning session, and then we’ll do the evening afternoon session.
So now in continuation of our weekend course for the second teaching session as well as the meditation session that he always began first by reciting the lineage guru prayers. So now, again, that each time that when you receive the teaching, the first thing is always the creating the right motivation. For the sake of all sentient beings that one must attain fully enlightenment. And in order to get enlightenment that you are receiving this teaching and that whatever that one receives, one will diligently practice and also with the right behavior, with the right intentions, with a respectful form, complete in silent in speech, and deep devotion in the heart teaching as well as the master that one should receive the teaching. And teaching has a preliminary part and the main part and the conclusion part and the preliminary part to make from worldly path or from wrong path to switch from wrong path to right path, taking refuge.
And then from from lower path to switch to the higher part, the creation of enlightenment thoughts. Two are I have already explained to you. Now for the main part, which has four parts. The first one is that if you have attachment to this life, you are not a religious person. That was the main root text, the main words given by the lord Mañjuśrī to the great Sakyapa.
And then the later the commentaries, the Sachen Kunga Nyingpo’s real son as well as spiritual son, the holder of all the Tathagatas’ teachings, Jetsün Dragpa Gyaltsen. Jetsün Dragpa Gyaltsen, who is a dear holder of the all the Buddha’s teachings has wrote commentaries. And so the first words that if you have attachment to this life, you are not religious person. And that he explains that to practice religion in order to practice religion, the great Indian master, Vasubandhu, said that based on the moral conduct, then one should do the study, the hearing, and contemplation, and meditation all in order. And this structure of based on the moral conduct and to do the study and contemplation and meditation is common to all the different schools.
And so for this, the first anyone who who are doing these things for the sake of this life is not a religious person. Even though it looks like a religious religious, looks like a spiritual practice, looks like a religious, but in fact, it is not a religion. So therefore, it is not worthy. If if the motivation is for the sake of this life, then it is not worthy. So first to explain the the moral conduct.
Moral conduct is very, important as it is the root to accomplish the higher rebirth, and it is the ladder to accomplish the the liberation, and it is the antidote to remove the sufferings. And so moral conduct is a thing that is absolutely essential in practicing. But the one who is giving moral conduct for the sake of this life, it is not it do not possess these qualities. Instead, that it is the the root of all the worldly dharmas, the worldly dharmas, like gaining and losing and fame and the infamous etc. And it is those who could not keep the moral conduct that he is very rude to them and those who are keeping the moral conduct, is one is a competition to this and one’s own one’s own moral conduct is a kind of hypocrite hypocrisy so that it is the such kind of moral conduct is the seed to accomplish the lower realms.
So, therefore, such moral conduct, which looks like a moral conduct, but the motivation is wrong and the things that they are doing are wrong because the since the motivation is wrong, that everything goes on wrong. So therefore, such moral conduct is like medicine turning into the the poison. So such moral conduct that one must give up and try to do the moral conduct that is pure, that is not for the sake of this life. At least to be a religious, to be a spiritual practice that it has to be at least not to have attachment to this life because this life is something that very temporal. It’s everything’s impermanent, and this life is just like like a bubbles, the bubbles of the water that that immediately vanishes.
So, therefore, it is not worthy of having attachment. So such moral conduct is not right and one must give. And then the second, the base on the moral conduct, the the practice is first is, of course, to study or the or rather to hear the teachings and then also to contemplate the teachings. First, to learn the teaching and then to contemplate. And so such hearing the teaching and contemplating it again and again is very, very essential as it is like a kind of a treasure to accomplish the knowledge, and it is the lamp to give the light in the the darkness of ignorance.
And it is the guide. It will be the kind of guide to to guide the the sentient beings, and it is the seed of the dharmakaya. The the body of reality or the the transcendental wisdom form. Because through the studies that we can learn, gain the knowledge, through the studies we can remove the ignorance, through the studies that we can guide the sentient beings, through the studies that we can practice so that the ultimate wisdom, the ultimate transcendental wisdom is also depends on the the study you do in the beginning. So, therefore, it is the seed and the root seed of the dharmakaya.
So, therefore, study and contemplation is, of course, a very, very essential. Absolutely essential in order to get liberation, in order to get enlightenment. But the one who has the wrong motivation, the one who has the attachment to this life, even he do the studies, even he does the contemplation, it is only to gain a pride, to to add more pride. And those who do not know, those who have a lesser knowledge, those who have a lesser wisdom that being very rude or disrespectful, And those who have knowledge, those who have the wisdom, those who have the those who are studying that one is competition and jealousy. And so through the study and through the contemplation that one what one is really aiming is more followers and more wealth and more fame, etcetera.
So such a study and such a contemplation with the wrong motivation is the root of to accomplish lower realms. So therefore, such study and the contemplation based on the the wrong motivation is very harmful. It is like turning the medicine into the poison. So one should not indulge with such study and contemplation, but one do the study and contemplation properly with the right motivation. And after that is the meditation.
The meditation the one who does the meditation. Meditation is very important. It is the antidote to discard the defilements. It is the root to accomplish the path of liberation. It is the seed to accomplish the enlightenment.
So, therefore, the meditation is absolutely essential. But the one who is doing the The one who is doing the meditation for the sake of this life, the the motivation is for this with the attachment to this life, even one remains in the secluded place like mountains or caves, but still one is busy with the worldly activities. And that whenever there’s time is engaged with the the idle talks, unnecessary, useless talks, and those who are studying, since his motivation is wrong and since his motivation has still with the defilements that those who are studying are criticized, and jealousy towards those who are meditating. And one’s own meditation also is full of with the distractions. And so such a meditation is not right, and one must do the right motivation meditation with the right motivation.
So in this way, that the first line which says that if you have attachment to this life, you are not a religious person. That later wrote the commentaries about how how it should be dealing with the right right way of practicing, and the wrong way of practicing here explains directly. And it indirectly explains in practicing that one should every practice that we do should be not attached with this life. This life is like a mirage. Mirage could not quench the thirst because it is only it is not a real thing.
So, therefore, that whatever we do, the keeping moral conduct, study, contemplation, the whatever we do, it should not be attached with this life. But if it is attached with this life, then it is wrong. Then it only becomes to accomplish the prosperity in this life and it not becomes the real Dharma, the real Dharma. So in this way, they directly explain the the right way of practicing Dharma and the wrong way of practicing so that one will know now what is the right thing to do, what is the wrong way to avoid. And it indirectly explains the the first, in order to arise the need to practice Dharma, to think about the difficulties of obtaining the the precious human birth.
And, also, it explains that not only need to practice Dharma, but to do to practice Dharma in quickly as everything is impermanent and so it explains the impermanence and death. So first is the difficulties of obtaining the precious human birth that Because the the the precious human birth is very rare thing and very valuable thing to obtain. And when one obtains this, if we just waste and we just waste and did not utilize this for the best course, but instead if we just have attachment and we just waste the time having attachment to this life, then it is a great loss. So it explains the the difficulties of obtaining the precious human birth. As the Śāntideva said, the one who has got the precious human birth with the all the prerequisites, the one who can accomplish the great goal.
If we do not accomplish at this time, then it may not be able to obtain in the futures. So for many reasons, there are many reasons that it is very difficult to obtain and so when we have this of when we obtain this that we must utilize this for the best possible way and to explain this in little detail that there are four ways to explain the difficulties of obtaining the precious human birth and that is the first is from the cause point of view. From the cause point of view, to obtain the precious human birth with all the eighteen prerequisite, one have to have a very good cause. Generally, enormous amount of accumulation of virtuous deeds and particularly one who keeps all the right moral conduct. The one who avoids the non virtuous deeds, and one who practice the virtuous deeds, and particularly the one who keeps the the the good moral conduct.
But when we today, we examine in the world that there are very few people who are practicing spiritual path. And so many people who are engaged in the non virtuous deeds, even those who are practicing the spiritual path, most of them are just kind of superficial level. It’s only looks like a spiritual pass spiritual practice, but the real spiritual practice with the right motivation, with the right practice, very, very few people are practicing. And particularly, the one who is keeping the the moral conduct, good moral conduct is very, very few with the right motivation to keep the clean, good moral conduct is very, very few. So when there’s a few cause, of course, the result is bound to be a very rare.
When there’s a very rare cause, of course, the result has to be very rare. So from the cause point of view that it is very difficult to obtain. And then the second is from the number point of view. Although it looks there there are many, many human beings, but if we carefully exam, carefully analyze that there are so many others when we compare with the other sentient beings. Many very few human beings.
How many people in one city can count quite easily? But to count how many insects, how many worms, even in the one house, it is very difficult to count. Even one one human being’s body can contain millions of germs and and worms, etcetera. So, therefore, it is compared with other living beings that even an ordinary human life is few in number. And particularly, the human life which has all the, which is free from all the eight unfavorable states and which has all the the right condition is extremely rare.
As it is said in the sutras that when you look at the sentient beings, those sentient beings who are going to be born in the hell realm are as many as as the the atoms of this the dust of this earth. And that those who are going to be born in the hungry ghost realm are as many as like the great storm or the snowstorm. And those who are born in the animal kingdom are as many as grains used in making alcohol. So when you make alcohol, you need many grains, as many as the grains used in making the liquor. So since most of the majority of the sentient beings are engaged in with the non performing the non virtuous deeds, the cause for to be born in the lower realm is the non virtuous deeds.
So, of course, result, the the lower realm is caused obviously in great in number. And there are so many beings who are who could not obtain the birth in the bardo state. The bardo state means the the state the intermediate state between this life and the next life. There’s a one state called bardo where one have to go through a very fearful period of time. And in there, there are enormous amount of living beings there that who could not gain the birth.
For example, in the summertime if one dead body of an animal is kept for several days. Then, whole his body is covered with worms and so, the living beings who are coming from the intermediate state to be born as worms alone has that many within one animal’s body. One living being’s dead body can can contain so many worms that are coming from the intermediate state. So therefore, of course, it proves that there’s enormous amount number of living beings. So compared with all these sentient beings, compared with these these compared with the other living beings, the human being is very few in number.
And then the third point of view is the example point of view as it is given in the sutras. As it is said in the sutras, suppose if the whole universe is just ocean, very big ocean, and then under this ocean are tortoise who is blind and that this and over the ocean there’s a golden stick which has only one hole and this golden stick floats all over the ocean. When the east the wind comes from the east, it goes to the west. When the wind comes from the west it goes to the east and so as to south and north and it’s all the time floating. And the tortoise who is blind under the ocean comes over the ocean in every hundred years time.
And so, is very difficult to have the chance to his head, the tortoise head, to go through the hole of this golden, golden stick. This is just an example is given how difficult, how rare it is because all And this example and the actual situation has complete similarities. The ocean is very big and wide. The possibilities to be born in other living beings are very wide and great in number. And the golden stick has only one small hole.
So the possibilities to be born as a human being is very small and few in number. And the tortoise comes in every hundred years time over the ocean. So that is the that very few living beings who are creating karma to be born as a human beings. To creating the cause to be born as human beings are very few in number. And even those who are creating, it is a very weak the tortoise is blind.
If he has eyes, of course, he can at least see but he is blind so he does not see where the golden stick is floating. So, similarly, the even those who are creating the cause to be born as a human beings are very weak. The actions that they take the actions that they take are very weak. And the golden stick is all the time floating all over the the ocean depending on the which direction the wind comes. So the even those who are creating the karma to be born as human beings have very many obstacles that can come as a hindrance to be born as a human beings.