Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 47-minute session, Khensur Rinpoche takes up a question that puzzles many students: why did the Buddha teach the Four Noble Truths with results before causes — suffering before its origin, cessation before the path? Using a doctor-patient analogy, Rinpoche explains that we first notice illness, then seek its cause, then look for a cure; understanding suffering naturally motivates investigation of its origin, and glimpsing cessation motivates practice of the path. He walks through three ways the truths are set forth — by their nature, by the function of the object, and by the action of a realized being speaking in the past tense — and recounts the story of the first Varanasi teaching, where Kaundinya attained arhathood while the remaining four disciples realized the selflessness of the person. The session closes with a Q&A touching on the state of mind at the moment of death.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 02 4NT 1999 04 02.mp3
UUID: a3db55d1-ecec-47ac-b5e3-aabae5811171
Teacher: Khensur Rinpoche
Collection: 4 Noble Truths Retreat (Khensur Rinpoche)
Date: 1999-04-02
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 47.4 minutes
Words: ~2,935
And the fourth proposal or function is that the if one wish to have the happiness of true cessation, which is the ultimate happiness and stable, if one wish to attain such a state of cessation, state of true cessation, then one needs to cultivate or meditate on its its to attain such cessation, one one should meditate upon or meditate on the cause of the cessation, which is true path. So two sets of teaching has been taught here. The first one is how about its nature that this is the true suffering of the supreme being and it goes to the true path of the supreme beings. And the second set is taught by their function. And it’s saying that one should the first one is to should understand the one that one should understand the true suffering.
And then second one is one should abandon the origin of true suffering. And the third one is one should achieve or attain the cessation, true cessation and the fourth one is to attain, meditate on the true path, which is the origin or cause of true cessation. And and there are four and there is the way of teaching to third one, which is by taught through how they function. I think it’s better to say how they are performed by the agent means how they’ve been caused by our wisdom or our mind. And and so before we say that one understand, the second set was by the function means to the the see that to understand, to realize the the function, say, to understand the suffering, which means that suffering, one should it’s just the seeing the function of the suffering itself and one understands the the is the true suffering.
And one should so many that function comes from the object or the suffering itself. And the set of teaching, which is set forth the third one, is taught the function from the agent or like a person, which is the mind itself, saying that, say, I understand everything on this flower, this flower, and its characteristics, everything, and which means it doesn’t come from the subject or the flower itself. What it says is it just understands by the mind itself. So the differences here is that the third one also says the is showing the function of the agent, and the second set of teaching which comes from the object itself, that one. And the third set of teaching is that in the past, in Tibetan words, they use the past tense form, which means I have understood suffering and I have abandoned the suffering and the achieved all in the past, I mean, or past tense and then I have meditated on the path, so this is the difference.
And so when when Buddha Śākyamūni has taught this one noble truth, first, the Varanasi, there are five five main human disciples and but there are many disciple of gods. And among the five disciples, which are humans, and and among the five, the first one is the the name of the first five name of first of the five name is Kaundinya, and when he have received these three different types of way of teaching from the nature and the function from the object and the function or action from the agent. When he have heard all those teachings, he has after the teaching of the after having received the teaching, he attained the arhathood. And the rest four has rest rest four have after teaching of that Four Noble Truths, the the the first one has attained the liberation, and the rest four has achieved have realized the selflessness. I’ll I’ll I’ll come with this.
Come on. Anyway, it’s the name of the first four in Tibet. It comes we miss one. And we’ll come up. I’ll back up sometime tomorrow.
And and so the rest four has attained realized the selflessness of the person, and then they have reached or attained the the path of seeing and become the supreme being and became supreme being now? So so how many Today? So today, how many of us will or have become a supreme attained liberation and how many have attained become a supreme being? And the so when when so one of them one of them has attained the arhat become arhat and the rest become the supreme being attained the path of seeing. And so as as for the sign of auspicious sign of death, from from the space, the devas or gods in we call it like the white devas who are the proclaimers.
And they from the sky has set or make a sound that that Buddha Śākyamūni has turned the wheel of doctrine or Dharma in the world and said, Alala. Big yell. Alala. Oh, so I missed one. It’s a.
Like a huge sound. So Rinpoche is saying that there was a monk who was a good who a good sense of humor. But seems like he was not shy, not very intelligent. And so it was during the recitation period that all the monks, they recite the prayers text in the yard. And so that gercher or sense who has sense of humor was worked towards a newcomer, a new monk, and just tried to listen what he that that monk is reciting.
And but the newcomer knows that he I mean, that the the joker per monk, he doesn’t understand what he is reciting. So he’s just saying, what do you know? And he just said the prayers like, la la la la. What do you understand? The the the Buddha Śākyamūni has taught the Four Noble Truth in sequence in the category that he taught the first two, suffering, and then the origin of the suffering and the cessation the true path.
But if we study about the actual way of what occurs first of the Four Noble Truths and then the first two, the origin of the suffering is comes and then the suffering and then the true path and the cessation. This is the proper sequence, the way of occurring the four noble truths within oneself, or we can say the actual procedure of the cause and effect. So if we actual procedure of the cause and effect then the true origin of the suffering comes first and then the suffering. It is like the flower that the flower and its seed, first we have to sow the seed and then the flower comes. So likewise, the first, the disturbing emotion, disturb the true origin occurs, which is like disturbing emotion, and then the action has been, the karma or action has been performed or cultivated through the disturbing emotion.
And due to that, it gives birth a result. It give birth to a suffering which is the result through the true origin of suffering occurs comes first and the suffering is occurs next. So likewise, as for the true cessation and the true path, and so true cessation is the result of the true path. And so it has been, so first one has to cultivate or meditate or cultivate the true path and after cultivating or meditating again and again on the true path one attains the result of that which is true cessation. The true path comes first and the true cessation is the result of that.
So that means it comes next. So in the sequence of the proper law or mode of proceeding, the cause and effect becomes the first two cause comes first and the result comes next. Mother has to born first and come has to come first and then the child come next. So if we ask why is the reason that Buddha Śākyamūni has set forth the two results first and then the cause, the later, like result first you taught the true suffering and then taught the cause of true suffering, origin of the true suffering, and then the true cessation first, and then the result or cause of that, the true path. So if I’m what what is the reason the reason of that, why Buddha has taught such way, there are many reasons of teaching.
There are many reasons to that. So the has set forth the reason of why Buddha Śākyamūni has taught in such way, and I will go through it now. So, for example, it’s stated that the for example, like, our body and a person who First, a person who undergoes through the suffering and could create sickness and goes through the pain, huge, tremendous pain, he understands. That particular person understands that says that I am sick, and he understand the pain and the suffering of his sickness. And by so the but seeing to the person, by seeing the seeing his illness and that he is going he’s suffering, huge pain, etcetera.
And by knowing that, then he really wishes or try to understand what makes him undergo or what gives him this this pain or sickness to him and he always and he will definitely tries to seek a method to free that pain or the disease and to to do that to to to do that, he looks he looks after or he looks for a doctor. And then by seeing the qualified doctor will look for the causes of that particular sickness or disease and you see whether that disease is caused by any of the elements like and or caused by food poison or poison, etcetera, and he will look for the causes of that particular disease and by through his investigation, he he understands what is the cause of that suffering or disease. And I’m finding the cause of the suffering, and and doctor also understand both the cause and the suffering, it’s suffering. And but but doctor can do nothing to the result, can do nothing to that pain or the sickness. What he does is he tries to stop the cause of that particular disease, sickness.
It’s like he will try to if he came to know that sickness or illness is caused by any of the elements, contrast of any elements, by contrast of any kind. The elements then he will try to make them in level of elements which we required. And then if it’s caused by any poison, he tried to stop that poison. And so he always humanely tries to to overcome or stop the cause of the suffering. And so it is important that one one one tries to overcome the causes of the suffering and So so by stopping the cause of suffering, then the its result, the suffering itself will stop or cease.
Likewise, so that is the reason that he has taught the true suffering first and then the origin of suffering second because understanding or knowing that one is bound up with suffering, then one will look for the cause of that suffering which is the true origin of the true suffering. And then he tries to abandon the true suffering. And By abandoning the true suffering, the suffering and the result of true suffering, by abandoning the origin of the true suffering, then the origin, the true suffering will cease by itself. So so this is the case case that the true suffering comes first and the origin of suffering next. And so as the physician tries to prescribe a medicine medicine to stop stop the cause of suffering.
And by stopping the cause of suffering, one is free from suffering and free from that illness or from that illness by freeing oneself from the suffering. And when one is free from all those causes of suffering, one is free from free from that cause of illness, one frees from sickness or illness itself. And by freeing from that, one feels one has the happiness of of of without disease or illness. So that happiness without the sickness is the example analogy for these two And to have that the happiness of being free from the illness, to have that then one has to take all the prescriptions or all the medicines which kills the disease and then give you the happiness without the disease or illness. And if one does not eat all the medicines which has been prescribed then one cannot have that, one cannot free this, free or overcome the disease or illness one is undergoing through.
So one has to take, to acquire the happiness without illness, one has to take the prescriptions of medicines and the analogy of that medicine is the true path, which is to attain the cessation. And so this is the case that the reason that the true cessation has been taught first and then the origin of true suffering is taught first and then the origin of the suffering and the true cessation and the true path. And it is also when one develops the path of the supreme beings, first they generate the path of the supreme beings focusing on the true suffering, and then the path focused on the true origin of the suffering, and then the cessation and the true path. So this is the case, this is the reason Buddha Śākyamūni has taught in such sequence, not the opposite sequence of cause and effect. He taught the result first and then the cause next.
So the uh-huh. These are the reasons why he Uh-huh. These are the reason that he he taught taught in the he taught in the opposite way that the results first and the causes next. And the And and he has taught this in taught in such opposite sequence that it is because is taught in such way because through one’s realization or through one’s understanding because one first understands the suffering and then after investigation, he understand this cause of the suffering which origin of the suffering and then the true cessation and the cause of the true cessation. So through their realization, he’s also set forth in this is the reason of saying the opposite way, like, to result first cause.
Next. So briefly, if and I briefly speaking, then or if you summarize, then the purpose of teaching this is that he has set forth the two sets of causes and teaching of two set of causes and effect. And and the first two set is two which is going to show us how one circles like a wheel in the cyclic existence so which is showing the true suffering, the the origin of the true suffering on which are the cause and which are the the action and the disturbing emotion which which causes, which are which act as a cause of suffering and due to that suffering, and due to influence of that, we circles in this, the cyclic existence. And the second is been set forth. The second set of the cause and effect is set forth by showing the true cessation is state which frees, which is free from the suffering or free from the cyclic existence.
And that state or cessation is the result, the true path and showing that how one how one achieve the true cessation through training in the true path. So this is how the two sets of the teachings of cause effect for noble truths has been taught. So we’ll we’ll we’ll stop here and then save some minutes or or leave some couple of minutes for the question and answers. Okay. It’s this third set was to the the first was first was by the nature and the function of it’s the object side.
And So the third one actually refers to a person who studies all the agent, like so as the nature and the function of the four noble truths to be taught by the Buddha or the teachers. So the third set of teaching is the saying the agent itself that I have understood the suffering, true suffering, and then the origin and then cessation and the path. So it’s it’s it’s mainly to the agent or the the disciples who have after listening to the former two sets of teachings that they have understood. Not using in the past tense, understood. Any doubts?
So it’s good to have a discussion group so that by discussing within the group then good I mean, you can help each other a lot. And it’s it’s a good question here. And and that the at the time, the mind or consciousness at last moment of death. And during that moment, one one one understand that it is the time has come for one to end in this to end particular life. And at that moment then one ultimately innately one the thought comes within that period that now it is definite for me to end this life and now where do I go or what will happen after the end of this and they just try to work or think about the activities in the next what one is going to do, what will happen to one after this life, such thought will rise at the moment of that time, that mind.
So and so at that moment, on the consciousness or the mind, and the one has the lot of imprints or the pretenses of the actions or which one has performed in the past. And as a result of that, the potency or the karma, it can be any kind of potency because of a left left