Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 40-minute talk, Khensur Rinpoche centers the session on a single vivid image: the practitioner who greets old age the way a child anticipates a picnic — eager for the next life rather than lamenting the one slipping away. He builds from this the case that mindfulness of death underpins all authentic practice: motivating it at the start, sustaining effort in the middle, and completing it at the end. Impermanence loosens worldly attachment, purifying karma practice; Rinpoche cites Mañjuśrī’s teaching that clinging to this life disqualifies one as a Dharma practitioner. The Lamrim is presented as a personal diagnostic for testing whether one’s conduct accords with the teachings. A Q&A closes the session on how craving activates karma at death and why the mind’s state in that moment shapes rebirth.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 16 3PA 1993 08 03.mp3
UUID: d68e703b-61b2-488c-81db-6a39d50d2a06
Teacher: Khensur Rinpoche
Collection: 3 Principal Aspects of the Path (Khensur Rinpoche)
Date: 1993-08-03
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 40.5 minutes
Words: ~2,442
So unless there is the coming together of a complete set of causes and conditions, then there’s no result will arise. There if there is not the if the in the for example, if they’re in growing in the growing of a sprout, if there are not the causes and conditions necessary, then there’s no way that a sprout can grow. We can we can understand the existence of a past life by considering various types of considering various types of of through the use of reason. So one one’s future life is the one’s own future life is the result is one’s own individual result of the various causes that one has brought about. You know, one’s own happiness is a result of the causes of happiness that one has created for oneself, as and the same is true of our suffering.
The suffering that one experiences is a result of the accumulation of the causes of suffering that one has brought about. So if we do not wish to experience future suffering, then it’s necessary to abandon creating new causes of that future suffering. If in seeking to bring about the resultant happiness in the future, then it’s necessary to create causes of happiness. If we do not create those causes of happiness, then we will not experience resultant happiness in the future. And the same holds true for suffering.
If we abandon creating the causes of resultant suffering in the future, then we will not experience resultant suffering. So this is the this is the benefit of of the of reflecting upon and developing a mindfulness of death. In in in in the fact that it is necessary that we begin to create the causes for our future happinesses during this life. In seeking to bring about happiness in the future, we must engage in practices in the course of this life. We will be mindful of the necessity to create these causes over the course of this life by being mindful of death.
Also, one enters into the practice of Dharma through one’s mindfulness of death. So death is important in in the beginning since it it precipitates it’s important in the beginning because it motivates one to begin to practice. It is important in the middle because through mindfulness of death, one will persevere in the course of practice. And then finally, it is it is important in the end because through mindfulness of death, one will bring one’s practice to a conclusion. If through through our mindfulness of death, we will we will carry on on an authentic and powerful practice of Dharma.
We will abandon various types of negativities. We will practice ways of creating skillful actions. And thus, at the time of our death, at the moment of our death, we will have a sense of joy and we will be able to die happily. You know, it’s for most, growing old is quite a difficult experience for most people in the world, you know, even in Australia. People get old and things are very difficult for them.
They they are often alone without companions. They they aren’t able to do what they used to do. They remember They are not able to get up, are not able to sit down. And they begin to think, well, what’s the use? And it’s not a very happy situation for them.
But for those who have practiced Dharma, they have a sense when they do get old and their body becomes infirm, that, ah, now it’s my I can throw away this body. Now I can I can get a new body? And it’s and this this new body, I’m going to they can begin to look forward to this beautiful new body that they’re going to that they’re going to appropriate and the and the wonderful surroundings, and their new friends that they’re going to meet, and all the good things that they’re going to be able to enjoy. And they’re ready they’re they’re ready to go. You know, it’s it’s like a child who’s who’s going to go on a picnic the next day.
And they can’t sleep the night before thinking about thinking about all the wonderful things that they’re going to do. And they’re and they this old person, they wake up in the morning, and they’re ready to go. This could be the moment of my death. And they’re glad. Very happy.
And for those who practice Dharma well, then they can take rebirth in a pure land, a pure land of Avalokiteśvara, Tārā, Mañjuśrī, Maitreya. You know, these places are Vajrayoginī. You know, the the the there’s only happiness in such places that one doesn’t even that one doesn’t see suffering. What is One doesn’t even hear the sound or the word suffering. Isn’t there and they’re they have this youthful body of sixteen year old and they have they cultivate and they receive teachings from the various lamas in these pure lands of receive received teachings from Avalokiteśvara, Mañjuśrī, Maitreya and Vajrayoginī.
And there is only happiness, not even the sound of suffering. And in such a taking rebirth in such places, then just as we are conversing back and forth as student and teacher, then you can converse back and forth with teachers such as Mañjuśrī and Avalokiteśvara and Maitreya. But even if we weren’t to be reborn even if we weren’t in the future to be reborn in such types of pure lands, we we, through our practice of ethics, can ensure that we take life as a human, that we are born as a human. Through our practice of generosity, we can ensure that we have all the various material necessities objects of enjoyment and through our practice of tolerance that we have a beautiful body, that we have good friends, harmonious relationships, and that through the practice of our meditations and teachings over the course of this life we will be intelligent, have wisdom. And through the cultivation of love and compassion, we will have even more love and compassion in these future embodiments.
And that we will develop will, through our intelligence and wisdom, develop the realization of emptiness, through our compassion, develop the realization of the awakening heart, whereby we can remove all our various faults and bring the consummation of excellent qualities in a gradual manner, becoming bodhisattvas and finally Buddhas. So this is why understanding the awareness of death is so very important. In the lam rim, or the graduated path, This is included within the common practices of the being of narrow perspective or small capacity. By means awareness of impermanence, one’s Dharma practice will be authentic. It will be pure.
We can only practice a pure type of Dharma. We cannot we won’t practice inauthenticity with respect to our practice. So it is through this awareness of the death of death that we can begin to practice authentically. And why is that? Why why do we begin to practice authentically through our awareness of impermanence?
Because we will not our attachment to the priorities of this life, which are concerned only with this life, will begin to deteriorate. They’ll begin to lessen. And we won’t be caught up with, in terms of our, of our body, of objects of enjoyment, trying to gain a great name for ourselves, these priorities of this life, they’ll begin to lessen because we’re losing our attachment towards this life and placing greater greater emphasis on future lives. And through placing greater emphasis on future lives, then we are going to we will have purer and purer motivation for what what it is we do. And therefore, our our practice of Dharma will become more and more authentic.
So it is impermanence which is the doorway into an authentic Dharma practice. Therefore, Mañjuśrī said that if one clings to this life, one is not a practitioner of Dharma. And what he meant by this is through our attachment to and our emphasis on through our emphasis our attachment and emphasis on the things of this life, then we will not we will our our practice of Dharma will not be pure. It will not be authentic. It is said that the doorway into the Dharma is impermanence.
And the doorway into its practice is karma as actions and the results. That is to say, coming to a beginning to practice in terms of what is to be adopted and what is to be rejected, what the various negative activities which are to be rejected, to be abandoned, on the one hand, and the various positive, skillful actions which are to be adopted or cultivated on the other. If we, coming to understand, if in beginning to implement this practice, will not only practice great skillful actions, but we’ll also make effort to practice even minor ones on the one hand. And on the other, we will not only avoid minor unskillful action, the great unskillful actions, but we’ll also avoid even insignificant minor actions. And therefore, we were able to practice in an unmistaken, unerring fashion.
So without this practice of actions as causes and their results, is really no practice. So this is the reason that the Lam Rim, the graduated path, is so very important. Because we can begin to understand where it is that we’ve arrived in the course of our practice, what the nature of our situation and whether in fact we are practicing the Dharma or not. We can investigate and see, am I really practicing? If in this context we were to see for ourselves, investigating within the nature of our own activities, that I try to avoid even minor unskillful actions on the one hand, and I try to cultivate, to implement even skillful actions on the other, then one can see for oneself, Oh, my practice is really going well.
So this is the measure whether one is a practitioner or not in terms one can look for oneself as to one one’s implement of what is to be rejected, what is to be cultivated or adopted. So this is we we can look and investigate within our own activities whether we’re practicing or not. But in terms of what in terms of our implementation of what is to be avoided and what is to be adopted. We can go on in terms and look at our practices, say whether not only are we practicing, but are in fact, are we practicing purely or not? And to understand that, then we have to see whether we are practicing in the context of an awareness of death and impermanence.
If we are, then we that is an assurity that our practice is in fact pure. We can think, oh, that I’m I because I’m I’m always practicing in with in in the context of this awareness of death and impermanence, then my practice is authentic practice. On the other hand, if if it’s not, then we cannot be sure whether our our practice is pure, whether it’s an authentic type of practice. So we can see whether with the nature we can begin to understand the nature of our practice if when we look by means of looking at the way the teachings of the graduated path, the Lam Rim, and seeing whether the explanation of the graduated path and our own thinking are are in line with one another, whether they accord with one another. This is a way that we can really test to see whether we are practicing well and purely, whether our way of thinking is in accordance with the explanations of the graduated path.
If they are, then you can you can assuredly think to oneself, I am practicing well. If they aren’t, then one cannot. Disadvantages when there is not this awareness. And we’re going to stop there if you have some questions. Yes.
Numbing again, right there. So that’s right. The moment of death acts as a cooperative condition for the ripening of a particular karma at the moment of death. And if that state of mind at the time of death is positive, then it will ripen a positive karma, and one will have a fortunate rebirth. On the other hand, if that state is negative, then a negative karma will ripen, will be activated, and one will have a poor future rebirth.
So it’s very important at moment. So this The cooperative conditions which activate the karma, not only the state of the mind in general, but also within the twelve links of dependent origination, the links of craving and grasping. These also are cooperative conditions which activate. So reaches a point when death becomes when death has been is irreversible, that death is definitely going to arrive, and that the mind begins to understanding it’s now leaving this life behind. And there will be a a rise in attachment for future re-embodiment in it.
And this is this desire for re-embodiment is attachment, but here it’s simply this this link of craving. There is craving for re-embodiment. And this is like craving acts as like adding a drop of water, the moistening the seed. It acts to activate a type of karma which will propel you to take re-embodiment. So this is the cooperative condition which is craving, which is activating the karma whereby to take future rebirth.
At this point, if the individual has been, is a practitioner of Dharma, then if he hears the name of his lama or the name of the Buddha, or if he were to see a photograph or a picture of a Buddha or his lama, then this would induce a positive state of mind. And this would be able to ripen the karma which will be activated due to craving will be of positive type and therefore will predispose a positive type of rebirth will be a skillful state and therefore a positive type of rebirth. On the other hand, at this point when craving is activating a particular karma, if there was a commotion, there was some disturbing type of talk going on, if the individual might develop anger. Or if they were to see their spouse or their children or their possessions, they might develop attachment. You know, that they even just to hear their their spouse or their children, a a a mind of attachment may arise at this point.
And this would activate an unskillful karma, which would cause a negative type of rebirth. Yeah. So we’ll stop there. Hi, Anne. Thank you.