Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. Khensur Rinpoche opens this 48-minute session with stark arithmetic: subtract childhood, old age, sleep, meals, and aimless travel from a sixty-year life, and perhaps five or six years remain for genuine Dharma practice — and even that time is rarely well spent. Part of his 1993 Lamrim series, this commentary moves from earlier discussions of impermanence’s benefits and faults into the actual meditation method: three roots, each supported by three reasons. He works through the first root in full — death is inevitable because nothing, whether wealth, power, or medicine, can deflect it; the lifespan diminishes breath by breath like a candle burning down; and whatever time remains slips into distraction. A brief note on vase breathing, said to slow respiration and extend life, closes the session.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 17 3PA 1993 08 10.mp3
UUID: 1e18f648-642b-43fe-8e21-fbddaa5f08dd
Teacher: Khensur Rinpoche
Collection: 3 Principal Aspects of the Path (Khensur Rinpoche)
Date: 1993-08-10
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 48.0 minutes
Words: ~2,633
So we have been discussing the in the manner of lessening emphasis on the appearance of this life, reversing our priorities in respect to this life in terms of future lives. And we have finished our discussion of leisures and fortunes. And we are in the midst of a discussion of the impermanence in terms of death. And we talked about the benefits of the contemplation of death and the disadvantages or faults if one does not contemplate death. And now we’re going to actually discuss the way upon the way to meditate upon death.
So whether we’re speaking of activities in terms of the Dharma, spiritual activities, or whether they be secular, the same formula holds true that if we understand what are the benefits, what is to be gained, then and understand it well and consider it well, then we will spontaneously make effort practice those methods of gaining this particular quality or object. On the other hand, if we additionally, if we consider all the various faults of persisting in a particular activity, all its various disadvantages, then we will quite naturally begin to turn away from it. We will begin to cease that activity naturally. In in sec secular activities such as, you know, engaging in business, if some if one understands the great profit to be derived from engaging in the business, then there’s no, then the difficulties, it is as if there are no difficulties in the work in view of the great profit one is going to get. One will do whatever it takes without, with little effort, without a sense of a great trouble or difficulty.
And likewise, with respect to spiritual practice, if one, for example, sees the benefit of meditation, just like as in the case of business, one will pursue as whatever difficulty is involved as if it weren’t any trouble for oneself. So we won’t speak any further on the advantages and the benefits and the disadvantages of not meditating on impermanence. But we’ll move on to the actual means of meditating on impermanence. And this is explained in terms of three roots. And these three roots are each supported or that is to say established through three three reasons.
So there is a there are nine reasons in the process of meditating on impermanence in terms of death. So each of these roots is supported by three reasons. And so we and in in contemplating each of these these three sets of reasonings, we come to some definite conclusion, conclusion, which brings about, we come to some determination. We’re thinking, we go through a process using the various reasonings, thinking this is this, that is that, and understanding this, we come to some conclusion or determination. So each of these three sets of three reasonings comes to a particular conclusion or determination.
So an analogy in terms of what we mean by coming to some kind of conclusion would be if we decided that we wanted to buy some new clothes, so we go to the store, the department store, we find, we begin to look, we go shopping, and we look at the various clothes and we find some articles that we like and think, I like the color and it’s warm, the quality of the material is very good, it’s very strong, it’s soft, it’s I like the fabric. And so thinking, we use all of these various reasonings to determine, having gone through this process of reasoning and inspecting it, we then come to some conclusion based upon these reasons to go ahead and buy. So that kind of coming to a conclusion and based upon a process of reasoning analysis is what we mean by coming to a conclusion here, some kind of determination. So first we’re going to discuss the three roots. And the first of these three roots is that death is definite or death is inevitable.
So understanding understanding that motivated by afflictive emotions recreate karma and actions. And whosoever the sentient being might be, as long as they’re born under the force of karma or actions, there is none who has not died. So there is living, sentient being who has been born under the influence of karma who has not died. So the first root is that death is inevitable or that death is definite. And then this this root is our fundamental proposition.
It’s supported by three reasons which establish this prop this fundamental proposition. That that there are three reasons. First first reason, second reason, third reason, which establish this root or fundamental proposition. So the reasoning which supports this first root that death is definite is that when death arrives arrives to ourselves, when when the time of death comes, there is nothing there is nothing nor there there is no method which can stop it, which can turn it away. There is nothing there is no method, there is nothing we can which will eliminate, which will stop once death has arrived.
So there is no one who can who can stop death. And moreover, as as part of that, that the the earth has been in existence for hundreds of thousands of millions of years. And we can point to no person who over the course of that period was born and did not die. That everyone who has lived over the course of these hundreds of thousands of these years of the existence of the earth who was born has died. So we cannot point to one person of the past who has who had who was born and did not die.
The same will hold true for those who are living at present. And the same will be for those who come in the future. Whatever the body that we may assume, however healthy it might be, that body cannot turn away death. The bodies of the Buddhas, bodhisattvas, though immaculate, were not able to turn away death. So whatever body we may assume, that is the body which cannot turn away death.
Whatever place we may reside, that is we cannot turn from death. If we were to live in space or under the ground, under under the earth or upon the ground, that that place is a place where death will come. Wherever we may travel, whatever country we may move to, that will death will find us there. If we if we were living in India and we thought to escape death by immigrating to Australia, still death would find us there. However powerful we might be, however strong, we cannot overcome death.
However rich we may be, however much money we may offer, whatever whatever great gifts we may give as a means to escape death is there is not enough there is no matter how much we may give, it it cannot turn death away. Whatever weapons we may be able to use, whatever medicine we might take, that there is no method which can ultimately keep death away. So we should contemplate in coming to the definite conclusion that we are going to die by considering all of these possibilities and understanding that no matter how what type of body we may possess, that body cannot turn death away. Whatever place we may we may reside, whether it be at space or under the earth or wherever, that is a place where death will find us. Wherever we may travel to, death will follow us there.
However powerful we may be, we’re not strong enough to turn away death. However rich we may be, there’s no way that we can buy death off. Whatever weapons we may use, whatever medicine we may take, ultimately will find us. That therefore, it is definite that I am going to die. So the second reason is that our the human lifespan is indefinite.
That our lifespan is established through the a karmic potency. And some people they are have they have the karmic potency whereby they are going to live have a lifespan of five years, or ten years, or twenty years, or some fifty years, some one hundred years. And there is no addition to this potency forthcoming. There’s, that is to say, there’s no addition forthcoming to our, to the length of our lifespan. And our lifespan is ebbing away ebbing away moment by moment.
The the the karmic potency, which maintains our life, is is is continually being exhausted, is lessening moment by moment by moment. Therefore, our lifespan is decreasing moment by moment by moment. So what what do we mean by life? A quoting from a verse by Vasubandhu. And he says that it is a combination of the factor of respiration, which is the life force, and mind, which which which abides, which rides upon the respiration or life force.
So it in a formless realm, there is no respiration. Therefore, there is no life force. There is only mind. But there there in the those who in the form realms, such as ourselves, have have a a life force and a mind. This is what constitutes life.
And a human life are is type of life involved in human types of behaviors. So this analogy as comparing the nature of the length of our life and how it progresses, how it diminishes. We can use a candle, you know, a candle that has a wick, and as long as there’s and the candle is burning down. It’s continually, moment by moment, burning using up wax. And and it’s it’s moment by moment.
It’s progressively burning down more and more. And and once that wax is exhausted, then that the candle light is is finished. And there’s no addition coming. There’s no there’s no adding of to the candle. There’s a certain it has a specific length and it’s continually burning down and once that that specific length of candle as wax has been consumed, then the candle is finished.
Likewise with our life. Our life is has a specific length and it’s continuing becoming that length is consumed moment by moment. And when it comes to the end, life is finished. There is no addition forthcoming. So our life is constituted is intimately related to the life force and that that is the wind energy, which is takes the form of respiration, the in and out of the breath.
And it is said that we in a in a over one day’s time, we breathe twenty five thousand times. And so these breaths are definite in number. And so we’re continually using up these breaths. This is as in the case if we had hundred dollars and we spent one dollar, we have exhausted one dollar and it’s it’s not coming back. And we’re down to ninety nine.
We spent another dollar and we exhausted another dollar and we’re down to ninety eight. Likewise, we’re when we’re when the of breaths are exhausted, then death will occur. So if you run around a lot, you’re going to die faster. So in we can we can establish a long life for ourselves through the lengthening of our breath and and the breathing more slowly. And one method that is used is vase breathing meditation where we we bring the winds from above and below in a form of vase.
And this has a tendency to to slow the breathing down. And we, over the course of a day, we will breathe less. So there’s more breaths which have been left over, and this will lengthen our life. So we’re we’re continually breathing no matter what our particular activity might be, whether whether we’re going, but it also even when we’re sleeping, we’re we’re we’re breathing. There’s respiration.
So it’s like a clock counting down. It’s continually moving moment by moment to the time of our death. Like like a racehorse as as from a starting point, approaching the line. So there is no addition forthcoming to our lives and our lives are continually lessening and decreasing through the exhaustion of the of the numbers of respirations and our our life is quickly finished. It’s like the winding up when we wind up a clock and it it only is able to be wound so far.
And then once it’s unwound, then it’s it’s finished. And perhaps that we can wind up a clock for one day, and then it unwinds, and then the clock stops. So the second reason is that determines that we are will definitely die is that my lifespan is passing without, halt, and there’s no addition forthcoming. So then the third reason is in from the point of that we’re definitely going to die, that life passes with no time for our practice of Dharma. Life passes with no time for our practice of Dharma, that we simply do not have the time to meditate on such subjects as impermanence.
And if we break down how we spend our lifetime, say we’re going to live sixty years, and for the first twenty years of our life, we we don’t even hear about meditation. We we it’s not even it’s not amongst our considerations. It’s not an activity that that we even think about doing. So that twenty years passes that twenty passes without the thought of meditation and the practice of Dharma. And if we skip ahead to the last twenty years, we’re going to live sixty years.
The last twenty years, well, know, our hearing’s not very good, and our eyesight is is is not very good, and our body is becoming infirm. We can’t sit for very long. It becomes terribly uncomfortable. So we can’t really carry on a very powerful meditation practice in the last twenty years of our life. So not much goes on during that period.
But then there’s the middle twenty years, which is really should be the fruitful time of our life, considering our meditation practice. But if we look at it and break it down, of those twenty years of the middle portion of our life, we probably spend about five years sleeping. And maybe maybe three or four years traveling around and going here and there, back and forth from different places. Maybe three or four years preparing our meals and eating them. And a couple years, maybe two years, sitting around depressed and bored.
So that leaves, maybe if we’re lucky, over sixty years, we practice five or six years. So though we in fact have the time, we find a variety of things which prevent us from making use of that time. And we actually, over the course of our lives, spend an extremely short time in our practice of Dharma. And you know, even that short time that we do spend in our practice, in our, in our, in, that we do spend meditating, for example, it’s not even sure if that’s really a worthwhile worthwhile time spent in terms of our meditation and what it could be. That is to say, you know, ideally, a a practice session should consist of the three parts of first establishing motivation, then the the actual meditation itself, and then the dedication.
But quite often, we we don’t bother with the motivation. We just we just go the actual meditation and maybe do some kind of dedication. Or or we just do we just do an actual med or we we don’t we we add motivation and and we do an actual meditation, but we we don’t dedicate. So even that time isn’t all of what it could be. And so this is the way our life passes in the course of our practice and that there’s a great loss involved.