Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. “Why must a practitioner take responsibility for karma created by a past being in the same mental continuum?” — that question, put directly to Khensur Rinpoche, drives this 48-minute year-end session. He explains that the continuity of consciousness links past and present selves as a single stream; unpurified negativity will ripen for whoever inhabits that continuum, so the four opponent powers become an urgent personal task. A student question on giving-and-taking (tonglen) draws out that the practice does not literally transfer suffering but trains the mind to deepen compassion and accumulate merit. Rinpoche cites a verse of Śākyamūni Buddha — Buddhas cannot wash away negativities by hand but liberate beings through their teachings — and closes with a year-end review of the group’s 1993 study and a dedication of merit.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 42 3PA 1993 11 29.mp3
UUID: a57b51a2-a15d-40cf-af90-1466cf36d704
Teacher: Khensur Rinpoche
Collection: 3 Principal Aspects of the Path (Khensur Rinpoche)
Date: 1993-11-29
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 48.6 minutes
Words: ~2,379
Know which law they broke or what exactly they did previously to end up there. Likewise, when we experience illness, when we experience suffering of some sort, we can assume that it arises from an unskillful action. We can surmise that, though we might not know the particular unskillful action. And the same holds true for for for when we’re when we experience happiness. We We can assume we can surmise that, ah, this has come also has come about from positive karma previously created.
Previously, there was a great Geshe by the name of Jampo Kadrup. It was a great and gave some gave his students some advice. This is the advice of of the great yogis, that whenever, some physical or mental happiness arises or some feeling of well-being, some kind of bliss, then one should think, I’m I have to make effort. I must, strive to create skillful actions.
Whenever happiness arises, think that this is a result of skillful actions, and I need to strive to create skillful actions. On the other hand, when when type when when you experience some type of physical or mental suffering, some undesirable physical or mental experience, immediately thinking to oneself, this is the result of unskillful actions. I need to abandon unskillful actions. So this is advice of a great practitioner. So you should listen to this well.
It’s very important. Questions regarding between different and just So did you hear the question? The question is, a previous being within my my continuum created some kind of action. And why should I presently take responsibility for the actions created by someone other than myself even though it’s in the same continuum as myself? One’s present consciousness is in continuity with the consciousness of that previous being, and therefore, there’s a there’s an there’s an intimate relationship between yourself and that being since you’re you’re at the same continuum.
If you do not declare, if you do not purify that negative karma previously created by that being, then it is you who will subsequently experience a suffering result. So it is necessary for you to implement a method so that you do not experience this suffering. So that the the negate the previously created negativities, in order not to experience the previously created negativities, it’s necessary for you to purify that that negativity through applying the four opponent powers. In order that that you that you that the the being in your future continuum not experience suffering, it’s necessary that you abandon abandon negativities and implement skillful actions because all of these that being will be of the same continuum as oneself. Just as you as a youth and you as an older person, those two beings are of the same continuum.
Continuum. Yes. Suffering, which is the result of karma, then when you exchange yourself for others and take on the suffering of others Yeah. Give me a picky. Of what’s happening then.
So yeah. Okay. So the question is, if if if one cannot, in fact, take upon the suffering of others or their negative karma, then when one practices giving and taking, involves oneself in the practice of giving and taking, what is occurring. So we we involve ourselves in the practice of meditating on giving and taking as as a means to develop and increase our love compassion. You know, the we we simply do not allow our compassion to remain at the level where we think may that may that person be free of suffering.
We we we we try to increase the power of that compassionate mind by thinking to take upon that suffering. Like, for example, if you see some someone with who’s carrying a great burden, and and it’s a great very troubled by their burden, and thinking, you know, may that person not have that burden, and maybe they may be free of the suffering of that burden. That is compassion, but increasing that, thinking, well, I’m going to take that burden upon myself. And this is a more powerful type of compassion with respect to that person’s burden than their suffering. So we are seeking to increase the force of our love and compassion by imagining that we’re going to free that person from their suffering by taking it upon ourself, and we’re going to give that person happiness by giving away our own happiness.
So it is a way of training the mind, of transforming our mind in terms of increasing the power of our love and compassion. We aren’t actually able to take upon ourselves their suffering nor able to give away our happiness, but we imagine that we do. We try to think as if we were taking upon their suffering and giving away our happiness. This is a way to increase the power of our love and compassion, to accumulate a great wave of creative potential as a means of transforming our mind, empowering our mind. It’s an extremely beneficial practice.
So, you know, we are seeking Buddhahood in order to eliminate the suffering of all others, to lead them to complete happiness. But how do we actually go about that, to bring this about? So the way that a Buddha operates to bring his goal about is in terms of teaching the Dharma, you know, teaching the methods in terms of what is to be abandoned and what is to be cultivated, giving teachings on what is to be adopted. What is to be adopted are the causes of happiness, various skillful actions, and what is to be rejected. What is to be rejected are the causes of suffering, various unskillful action.
So it is through the teaching of the Dharma that the Buddha is able to bring about his end. Oneself then has to implement the teachings as taught by the Buddha. One has to actually put them into practice, abandoning what that which is to be abandoned, cultivating that which is to be cultivated. But so it’s necessary for sentient beings to practice what is being taught. If if they don’t practice, there’s no way that the Buddhist can can lead them to happiness, that they can eliminate their suffering.
So there’s a verse quoted from the Buddha, from Śākyamūni Buddha, in which he says, the Buddhas do not wash away negativities sufferings with their hand, nor do they transfer their realizations to the minds of others. But it’s by their teaching of Dharma that others are made free. That is to say, by their teachings, you know, they simply aren’t able to wash away, negativities from other people’s bodies like you could wash your body with water. Or they they they cannot take their their your suffering with their hand in some way, take it from you, nor can what the realizations they have, can they put them in your mind. But it’s through their teachings, for example, teachings on the four noble truths, on emptiness, on compassion, the awakening heart, that they’re able to free living beings.
What is it? Why why why is the nature of the mind pure? Why is it? Why? Why?
Why? Why not? So there there are two natures to the mind, conventional nature and the ultimate nature. Conventional nature of mind is clear in is clear in knowing, and that is not the the conventional nature of mind is clear and knowing that is not pure. This is it it’s consciousness which understands various objects, or thinks about objects, comes to understand objects.
It is able to perform a function that’s it’s is potentiality is the ability to understand. But the the ultimate nature of mind is emptiness, and this is pure. So do you wanna want to follow on from there? So I went on to ask that there’s a difference between contaminated and pure, or non contaminated and pure. For example, the wisdom wisdom directly realizing emptiness is is not contaminated, but it’s not pure.
Right. Are you you want you wanna ask another? Why is it not pure? Yeah. The conventional nature of mind, is it not pure?
Because it’s So I think that answers answered the wrong question. I I I I my Tibetan renunciation isn’t very good, so he he misunderstood what I was asking. So by the the answer to that question was that we the question that was asked previously was, why is the nature of mind permanent? Permanent. Permanent, not pure.
Permanent. Then I okay. So that was the answer to why is the nature of mind permanent? And there is a permanent nature and an impermanent nature. Okay?
Now as to your question, why is the nature of mind pure? As he has explained previously. Because it’s not in the nature of the afflictive emotions, that the the afflictive emotions are not an integral part of the mind. They’re not mixed with the mind. You know, use the similes of the clouds in the sky or the mud in water or the gold within ore, that none of these are intrinsic or, what I say, integral, mixed in within those factors, that they can be removed, and they can all be removed.
If one could not remove the afflictive emotions from the mind, there would be no way to purify no purify the mind. One could never achieve Buddhahood. Yes. I didn’t get the last sentence. I think you had a good I think there are maybe two questions in a way.
But anyway, And then Mhmm. So the what appears to one appears to one under the by the power of afflictive emotions and one’s karma. For Buddhas, what appears to them is no longer appearing them appearing to them under the force of afflictive emotions and contaminated karma contaminated karma, but it appears to them under the power of having fulfilled the two collections, the accumulation of creative potential or merit and the accumulation of wisdom. Due to the power of those uncontaminated actions or karma, the objects appear, and they appear the same for all Buddhas. So it’s it’s it’s very hot, so I think we’ll stop there.
Very hot. So I’d like to just give some brief advice. You know, over the course of the year, we’ve involved ourselves in in listening and meditating and, for my part, giving explanations of the Dharma. We’ve involved ourselves in the practice of Dharma and have accumulated creative potential, and things have gone well. So we’ve over the course of the year, we’ve been discussing the the causes of becoming a Buddha in terms of the universal vehicle, the development of qualities such as love and compassion, the awakening heart, coming to understand emptiness, coming to, seeing the disadvantages of the cyclic existence, and developing a sense of wanting to abandon cyclic existence and strive for liberation.
We’ve talked about the four noble truths, refuge, karma as causes and their results. We’ve listened to a a great deal of the these teachings, and we’ve implanted a great deal of the latencies of Dharma within our minds. So we, you know, really, we have implanted a great number of seeds whereby to generate our future Buddhahood. We’ve we’ve implanted seeds within our mind whereby to generate our future Buddhahood, the quality of becoming a Buddha in the future. And having planted these seeds within our mind, our life has become meaningful.
But we simply shouldn’t allow it to remain there, having merely implanted just having planted the latencies of listening to the teachings. Having listened to the teachings of the Dharma, it’s necessary that we go into meditate again and again considering what we’ve listened to, what we’ve heard. And by this means, these latencies will become extremely not only they will become extremely stable, but they will develop they become very powerful and have a potential to bring about great qualities in the future. We have to put into practice what we’ve been listening to. You know, why do we listen to the teachings again and again and again?
It’s because we want to generate some kind of wisdom. Why do why do we want to generate that wisdom of hearing? What is what is the benefit? The benefit is that we can then go on to put what we’ve heard into practice. We can gain an understanding, and thereby, out of our practice, gain a result.
We can bring about our ultimate welfare. So we must continually put into practice what is it that we have now come to understand. And this mainly involves the development of a kind heart, trying to develop a sense of altruism, a beneficial intention toward others, and abandoning harming the harming of others, and to abandon the unskillful actions of our the three physical, the four verbal, and the three mental unskillful actions, and involving ourselves in healthy ways of thinking, communicating, and acting. And this is the purpose that we’re involved in the dharma. To to that same extent that we are able to bring about an end to the negativities in in terms of our body, speech, mind, to that same extent, we will eliminate our own future sufferings.
And on the other hand, likewise, to that same extent that we are able to involve ourselves in healthy ways of thinking, communicating, and acting, we will bring about a result in happiness in the future. So I’d like to thank you and and ask that you please practice well and that you all have a Merry Christmas. So we over the course of listening to the teachings and explaining the teachings, accumulated a great deal of skillful actions. And this merit that we’ve accumulated together, we can combine with that ocean of creative of skillful actions of the Buddhas and bodhisattvas. In combining, holding in common with all living beings whatever creative actions may have been accumulated, and in dedicating that ocean of potent creative potential that all living beings may attain Buddhahood, that there may be no wars, no famines in the world, and that all beings may experience well-being and bliss.
And to and that may each of your bring your practice to consummation, and may the teachings remain for a long time.