Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. Khensur Rinpoche opens this 48-minute commentary with a vivid Tibetan image: practice without renunciation is like barley flour floating on chang — it sits on the surface without penetrating. The session concentrates entirely on the determination to awaken (renunciation) as the indispensable foundation for all further practice. Drawing on Tsongkhapa’s verse and a line from Dharmakīrti, Rinpoche traces how self-grasping generates craving, craving blocks recognition of saṃsāra’s faults, and without that recognition the entire sequence — genuine compassion, the awakening heart, the view of emptiness — cannot arise. A lively Q&A then addresses whether all liking is attachment (it is not), and unpacks the five contaminated aggregates, including why Vasubandhu singles out feelings and perceptions as separate aggregates rather than grouping them with other mental factors.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 08 3PA 1993 06 08.mp3
UUID: 1a751984-a3fa-42a7-9e40-3c874f7a6f5d
Teacher: Khensur Rinpoche
Collection: 3 Principal Aspects of the Path (Khensur Rinpoche)
Date: 1993-06-08
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 48.8 minutes
Words: ~2,116
In order to be free, the individual must cut their bindings which are holding them, which are binding them to karma and afflictive emotions. Without cutting those bindings, there’s no way to achieve liberation. If we can cut the bindings, which are karma and afflictive emotions which bind us to the contaminated aggregates, then we can attain a freedom from cyclic existence, a state of happiness where there’s no suffering. So the person being bound to the aggregates of cyclic existence experiences great troubles, great suffering. If one sees and appreciates the great trouble and suffering that one is involved in — that is to say, understands the faults of one’s present situation — one will develop a longing to be free from it.
Out of a longing to be free, one will implement the methods to achieve that freedom. And through implementing these methods, one will gradually unbind oneself and achieve liberation. So we have to implement the methods to bring about liberation. That is, we have to practice. And these — the main methods for attainment —
are composed of a combination of wisdom and method. The method is the awakening heart. The wisdom is the awakening mind, or the view of emptiness. These are like a knife, by means of which we are able to cut the bindings of karma and afflictive emotions which hold us within cyclic existence, and thereby we can achieve liberation. So it is necessary, to be liberated from cyclic existence, to implement the means of method and wisdom.
But we will not be able to implement those methods without first generating a determination to awaken. That’s why it is necessary, as a preliminary, to initially develop the determination to awaken. It is — that’s why it is of greatest importance. Without the determination to awaken, we cannot attain liberation. If we have the determination to awaken, then we can implement the method and wisdom, whereby we can attain liberation.
The determination to awaken — renunciation — is extremely important. It’s tremendously beneficial. It’s a great blessing. That’s why Tsongkhapa says: Without the complete thought definitely to leave cyclic existence — that is to say, without absolute renunciation — then we will not be able to reverse our craving or attachment to the pleasures of cyclic existence.
And that craving for cyclic existence binds living beings. Therefore, initially, it is necessary to develop the determination to awaken. Without the determination to awaken, there’s no way that we will be able to cut our bonds of craving for the pleasures of cyclic existence. According to a verse, a line from Dharmakīrti, where he says: Under the influence of grasping at the self of persons, craving — all the various cravings — arise. Craving here means all our various attachments, whether the attachments might be to food or to drink, to clothing, to places, to talking, to staying — whatever they may be, they all arise in dependence upon grasping at the self of persons.
The craving acts as an obstacle to seeing the faults of cyclic existence. So, due to this hindrance of craving, and thereby not being able to see the faults of cyclic existence, we see it as possessing many wonderful qualities and engage in various inappropriate ways of acting. This is extremely harmful to our finding happiness and to our eliminating suffering. They are really a great enemy.
So there are two reasons that we are to cultivate determination to awaken, renunciation. One is that it is the method to cease our craving, our attachments. And this is tremendously beneficial.
We should understand that attachment obstructs our seeing of the faults of cyclic existence — attachment obstructs our seeing of the faults of cyclic existence — and therefore obstructs our ultimate attainment of happiness and elimination of our suffering. Due to this, it acts as an antidote. The cultivation of determination to awaken acts as an antidote to the faults of cyclic existence on the one hand. And on the other, it acts as a foundation for going on to cultivate the awakening heart and the awakening mind. So on the one hand, the cultivation of the determination to awaken acts as an antidote to the craving of cyclic existence, and on the other, acts as a foundation for the cultivation of the awakening heart and the awakening mind.
So there are two important reasons for the cultivation of the determination to awaken. The one is to cease all the various unwanted faults of cyclic existence, and the second is as the means to attain what is wanted — that is to say, liberation and ultimately omniscience. So the development of the determination to awaken is not something insignificant. It’s something extremely profound. And within the context of the lam rim, the graduated path to awakening.
It is the practices of the beings of narrow and middling perspectives that are methods whereby to generate this determination to awaken. Without the determination to awaken, there’s no way to achieve liberation. Without the determination to awaken, there’s no way that we will be able to eliminate all our various faults and bring to consummation all our excellent qualities. That is to say, there is no way that we can attain Buddhahood. Therefore, it has the quality of assisting in the elimination of all our problems and the attainment of all happiness.
Therefore, it is tremendously beneficial and important. Without the determination to awaken, whatever practice we may engage in — whatever Dharma we may practice — it has not become a pure practice of Dharma. So Tsongkhapa gives an analogy of why our practice will not go well if it is not founded in determination to awaken. The analogy he gives is that in Tibet they make — they have something similar to beer, which is called chang. And they sprinkle barley flour on top.
And there’s this thin film of barley floating on top of the beer. And it doesn’t penetrate in any way at all into the beer itself. And this is like our practice if we don’t have the determination to awaken. Our practice just lies on the surface without penetrating in any way to our depths. It remains on the surface without ever sinking into it itself. Likewise, without determination to awaken, our practice will simply lie at the surface of our mind without ever penetrating deeply within it, into it.
And because — not having the determination to awaken — our practice lies at the surface of our mind without penetrating into its depth, we will not develop a dislike for the causes of cyclic existence. We will not develop a sense of repulsion toward the causes of cyclic existence, the sources of cyclic existence. And not developing a sense of repulsion for these sources of cyclic existence, in our practice we will not strive to be free from cyclic existence. And not having the intention which strives to be liberated from cyclic existence, our practice will not develop to implement the causes for the attainment of liberation. And not having the intention to implement the causes for the attainment of liberation, when we observe others, we will not be able to develop real compassion.
Not being able to develop real compassion, we will not be able to develop the awakening heart. And not having developed the awakening heart, though we may say that we are a practitioner of the universal vehicle, it is something which comes only out of our mouth. It has — it’s really meaningless. Without the awakening heart there’s no way that we can eliminate all our various faults, bring to consummation our excellent qualities, and thus there’s no way that we can bring to ultimate fulfillment the welfare of both ourselves and others. So these are the reasons which are set out for initially cultivating the determination to awaken.
Without the determination to awaken initially, then all of these latter results will not come about. In order for these various latter results to evolve, it’s necessary that we first develop the determination to awaken. So today we’ve discussed the nature of the determination to awaken and why it is necessary that it be cultivated first initially, and then what are the various faults if it’s not cultivated? So if you have some questions about this, we can — ask your questions. Yes?
So are you asking two questions? So the first question is: are all forms of liking attachment? So there’s — I’ll ask your first question first, all right? So all likings are not attachment. For example, you could have a liking for the Buddha, a liking for the Dharma, and that would not be an attachment.
And then, do you want to go on with the second part? So the nature of attachment is: under the conditions of one of four distorted awarenesses — generation of awareness which exaggerates the beauty or attractiveness of the object — under the influence of one of four distorted awarenesses, an awareness which superimposes or exaggerates the attractiveness of its object is what is meant by attachment. So mainly attachment is generated out of ignorance. If there is no ignorance, then there is no attachment.
There can be beautiful things, attractive things — we can have, there are attractive things — and we do not necessarily have to develop attachment for them. Then he said, the understanding of the non-inherent existence of the object would act as an antidote to attachment. Yes. Yeah. So you have two questions.
One was: what are the contaminated aggregates, and are they related to real life? So the contaminated aggregates are those aggregates which are uncontrollably generated out of afflictive emotions and karma. Do you want to know what the aggregates are? Do you want to know what? Do you want to know what the aggregates are?
Do you want — that’s about the five aggregates. Yeah. So what we mean by the aggregates are the five aggregates. The five aggregates: aggregates of forms, feelings, perceptions, thought constructions, and consciousnesses. And Vasubandhu says — he says the aggregates are collections, a coming together. And it’s a coming together of parts, a coming together of moments.
For example, in terms of the aggregate of form — the aggregate of forms is a collection. It is a collection of elements such as earth, water, fire, and air, and the various evolutes. A coming together of all these various parts. The collection of feelings — the aggregate of feelings — is a collection.
A collection of moments of feelings: previous moment, present moment, future moments. A collection — there’s also a collection of unpleasant feelings, pleasant feelings, and indifferent feelings. So all of the aggregates are collections of various parts in terms of form and time. So the form aggregate is a conglomeration of particles — it is built out of a conglomeration of particles. The mental aggregates are a conglomeration of minds and mental factors, each having their collection of moments.
So the word — I thought of — I can’t think of it. A word which is being translated as contaminated. I thought of a better word the other day, but I forgot. Anyway, it’s usually translated as contaminated. It is made up of two syllables in Tibetan: zag, chye.
And zag means the afflictive emotions, and chye means having these — through being generated — having these, that is, it is generated out of the afflictive emotions. Zag chye — that means what contaminated means: having the afflictive emotions, being generated out of the afflictive emotions. I was asking why there are only enumerated five aggregates. In general, we are constituted of consciousness and form.
With respect to consciousness, there are two types. There is mind and mental factors. The mind is the aggregate of consciousnesses — that aggregate makes up mind. With respect to mental factors, there are three aggregates. In general, there are fifty-two mental factors.
That is, the functions of mind — secondary mental functions of mind. But only three are listed. These are the three other mental aggregates. And why are there only three? Quoting from a verse by Vasubandhu, he says that there is feeling — feeling, which is a mental factor, is for laypeople the main source of generating craving.
And therefore this mental factor is listed as, by itself, an aggregate. And the next aggregate is the aggregate of perceptions. This is sometimes translated as discrimination or recognition. And this — there is, among renunciates, a lot of dispute as to what is the view. You know, this is a good view, this is a bad view.
And…