Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. The arrow-and-target image anchors this 48-minute session: just as an archer needs a clear target before releasing, a practitioner must identify the origin of suffering before uprooting it. Khensur Rinpoche opens by tracing how karmic imprints and dying-moment craving combine to determine rebirth — a person who craves coolness at death is born in the cold hells; one whose last craving is to have food removed is reborn a hungry ghost. A student question about enlightened beings at death prompts the aside that they have full control and can travel to any Buddha realm they choose. Rinpoche then draws on Tsongkhapa: without repeatedly contemplating suffering’s disadvantages, no genuine wish for liberation ever arises, and without clearly understanding the origin of suffering, it cannot be abandoned. Closing instructions invite practitioners to reflect, hold group discussion, and bring unresolved doubts the following morning.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 03 4NT 1999 04 02.mp3
UUID: 70e02b14-4b2d-4a33-b6ca-ae5ebf24f981
Teacher: Khensur Rinpoche
Collection: 4 Noble Truths Retreat (Khensur Rinpoche)
Date: 1999-04-02
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 48.0 minutes
Words: ~2,743
The so the many imprints has been established on that the last on that mind, which is the last moment of the death or consciousness. And and and there are different sorts of imprints being established on that by the actions which one has done in the past. It can be, there are numbers of imprints, say the imprints which can give birth to the god realms or animal realms or the hell realms, etcetera. And so at the moment when one is undergoing, at the moment of that death, has many latencies or imprints that’s been established. But the latency which has the more influence or more influential or more power, that latency or that action will give birth to its result.
It can be any of those six, any of these births. So at that time, at that last moment, so the results will be the greatest or influential or the imprints will take a birth to its result. And so at that moment, the person’s wish is that the person will have or that mind or the consciousness will have a wish to take a birth, any of rebirths or any of the forms of those, the greatest imprints. Yes, there are many, many kinds of imprints and the greatest one will take a birth. And the person will have a wish of that to take a certain such bird off the greatest imprints one.
So by having that, so and one with the consciousness or the person will develop a craving or the attachment to achieve such a birth of that particular greatest imprints. And by and by developing or generating the attachment or craving, and those those are the disturbing emotions or the afflictive emotions. So, and such that craving within oneself will increase and become stronger and stronger. And due to that, the strong craving or attachment and that particular imprints, and later they will become a cause or cause to give birth to the result of give birth to the result. So it stated that the if the craving which cause or at the last moment of that one generates a craving and which give birth to their result, it’s like so for example, example has been stated here, like if one was to born in a cold hell realm.
And at the time of death, that person will will have feel very hot or both physically very hot and both external and internal. And so while he was undergoing through huge heat or the hot within himself, then that person will develop develop wish or a mind that wish to have a very cold with himself, and then he craves or attached towards the cold. And because of that craving and by the power of the imprints which let imprint in the past actions, by the past action, a person died, he was born, take a birth in the cold hell and likewise was to the hot. If one feels very cold at the time of last moment of death, and then he has a craving or all wish to have something cold within himself. And then by developing the craving towards the cold at the last moment of death, and then the result of that, he will burn in a hot hell.
So likewise, say some people get this great sickness and then, and at the last moment or that person doesn’t want to eat anything. And then, so even at the time of death, like last moment of death, and as we know that that person is sick and then hasn’t eaten for a long time and would try to keep food a place in front of food, and that person know, sensation that doesn’t want to eat anything. And he’ll have a and it gives some hurt to him by seeing those foods or dishes in front of him because he doesn’t want to eat. He hasn’t got any sensation yet. But but so we so food has been placed in front of him, and the person doesn’t want to eat.
He’s just a feeling that I wish those place or the food is not in front of me, not I mean, not placed in front of me. So and then he just having a wish or a craving, he doesn’t want to see any foods in front of him. Due to that, the result of that craving is said that the one was born in the hungry ghost realm, so so forth. So the taking of rebirth is mainly caused by the craving. But if the time of death is enlightened You oh, you become enlightened at the time of death.
No. No. Uh-huh. Or or or or or or or become enlightened and sometime after you die. Okay.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. I’ll recheck the question to that. Someone Someone does lots of practice and does guru by action in whole whole life, and then but he become enlightened before his death. So is that what you mean?
Yeah. And then he die after his enlightenment. So what will happen to him? Yeah. Is that the question?
Does he have control at that time? Yeah. Okay. Sure. Yeah.
So that enlightened being has all control over himself? All control? I think So so after one one so that enlightened being, and he has fully controlled over himself, and and at the time of death, he can go or travel wherever he wants. I mean, if he wants to go to Tārā, the mother Tārā’s realm, he can go there, and then Chenrezig, and any of the Buddhas’ realms. Or and he actually has his own because he’s enlightened and he has his own Buddha realm.
So he has control of himself. So, yeah, after enlightenment, he can take a real holiday. So it’s the the doing meditation meditation in practice and getting some happiness is not the we are not it’s not proposed to achieve the happiness of this present life. The happiness of this present life is the three types, which is food, clothing, and the reputation.
So if you work hard, you can have the food, and then you can have clothes as well as, and by doing a good job, people will praise you and you will have a good reputation. So these are the happiness of this worldly, of this life. So doing meditation is not not not to have achieved this world. Is that okay? Alright.
Okay. Nice. Nice. Nice. So now you have listened, have heard the teaching about teaching on the Four Noble Truths and don’t just leave it by here.
Mean listening to the teaching so it’s good for you to meditate upon the teaching what you have heard right now and then also it’s good to do a discussion or discuss among your group and just see what occurs or what happened in your discussion. If you can make a clear able to clarify anything, that’s good. And if you have any doubts at the end of your discussion, then then bring it to him on tomorrow next morning for a question, and he can explain you what what so so it’s it’s good to do meditation. So it’s good that you can do Tārā puja and so forth meditation during the morning. And then the later on, yeah, just I mean, again, just get together and just like the Guhyasamāja puja with seventy prayers and then after that do some short meditation upon the teachings and then and start the discussion.
So it’s very important if you can do this. Buddha Śākyamūni has first taught the teaching of one noble truth. And it is because that the all the Buddhist schools, four schools of Buddhist tenets, as well as the both the vehicle are the greater and lower vehicle, all those systems agrees the asset or agrees the teaching of Four Noble Truths. And so they take this Four Noble Truths. Four noble teaching of Four Noble Truths is generally accepted in all Buddhist systems, and they it is the basis or the foundation of Buddhist teachings.
And and the others, the rest of the practice are done upon by taking by taking this Four Noble Truth as a basis of the teaching, they practice the rest. So and the the teachings of the Four Noble Truths, or there are other teachings of the Two Truths as well, and the teachings in the Path, which is the method, wisdom and method. And as for the result of practicing all those parts or the truth, the result to accomplish the result is there are two types of result result of self and others. So without the basis of those two or four truths, then one cannot one cannot progress in the path, which is our attains the path, which is wisdom and method. Without understanding the path, the wisdom and method, then one cannot achieve the results of practicing, which are the two results, which is liberation and the enlightenment Buddhahood.
So in reverse order, so to experience, to achieve those perfect results. And one has to understand, one needs to understand the practices in the parts or one acquire the wisdom and method to achieve that result. And without understanding that result, one cannot those path parts, the wisdom and method, one cannot achieve the result. And to understand, to acquire those paths, one has to understand well about those two or four truths. And so which is the so without understanding the basis of teachings, foundation of the teaching, two or four truths, one cannot one cannot attain the path which is wisdom and method.
So the understanding the foundation of the teachings, which are the two or four truths, is very important and which is like the word of the Tathāgata. So it is all right to assert two truths. For the base, for the foundation or the basis, it is okay to assert two truths as well, which are the conventional truth and ultimate truth. And ultimate truth here refers to the teaching of the emptiness. So and the second truth, the conventional truth, it refers to the teachings other than the teaching of emptiness here and so forth.
It goes like the teaching of the generation of love and compassion, altruistic intention, and so forth. So the teachings, other than the teaching of emptiness, are called the conventional truths. So in terms of the Four Noble Truths, and as you know, they are the four schools, four Buddhist schools of tenets. And all assert the four noble truths, but the But there are different slight difference in establishing the four noble truths, which are four noble truths, and establishing the four noble truth. And if we so the Prāsaṇgika, the middle way school, which is the consequential school of Mādhyamika, they said that the first three truths, which is the truth of suffering, the truth of the origin of suffering, those two parts are stated as conventional truths, and the truth of cessation is the ultimate truth.
So the teaching of Four Noble Truth is like a foundation of a building. So so here the great master Tsongkhapa stated about the Four Noble Truths that if one does not understand the disadvantages of the suffering, then one cannot one cannot one will not able to develop a mind which starts for liberation. So what we have to do is we need to generate a certain mind that wish to certain mind that wish to free, wish to attain liberation by developing a fearfulness, or developing by feeling afraid towards the suffering of the cyclic existence or the bad migration. So the the good master has the maker made a make make a very strong conclusion. He’s saying that if one if one develops or think about the disadvantage of suffering again and again, then one can achieve or one can develop a mind, perfect, correct mind of seeking liberation.
And without without thinking, without thinking again and again about the disadvantages of the suffering, one will not ever generate a mind wishing liberation. No. So and and he said that the origin, it literally is called origin of all, means origin of all sufferings. And if one doesn’t understand that the origin the two the second two, which is the origin of the suffering is is suffering well, then one cannot uproot it the the end of the cyclic existence. So without understanding the the without understanding the origin to of the suffering well, then one cannot end the ends end the root of cyclic existence now.
Accrued the root of cyclic existence now. So he says that the one should investigate how the true origin true origin of the suffering act as the entrance to act as the cause or act as a cause to one to be born in the cyclic existence or suffering in cyclic existence. So one has to understand how we act as a cause. And by knowing that, one will come to know about the two origins is the cause of suffering. The two here origins are the action karma, or the disturbing and disturbing emotion.
The karma comes from the action performed comes from the disturbing emotions. And as for the disturbing emotions, there are many types of disturbing emotions. And so the mode, what one has to do is one needs to know which is the root, which is the root cause, which is the root to want to take birth in the samsaric existence. So through investigation, one has to know or make a clear understanding about the true origin of the suffering. Without understanding well about the true origin of the suffering, then one will not one will not be free or abandon this abandon this.
If one cannot abandon the two one cannot if one don’t understand clear about true origin of the suffering, then one cannot abandon the true origin of the suffering. And without uprooting or abandoning the true origin of the suffering, one will never be forsake or forbidden this cyclic existence. So the example here given is like to show the bow, to hit with a bow or arrow. So to hit the arrow, one needs to have a target or that circle, both like a target sign. And without without seeing the target, without having target, one cannot let the arrow go.
So it’s like that. One has to know the target first. So likewise, what one has to do is one has to recognize, one needs to realize the true origin of the suffering and needs to abandon that and need to abandon that true origin of the suffering to to eliminate all the suffering. Without abandoning the true origin of the suffering, one cannot overcome the suffering. So so to to to abandon the talk to eliminate this true origin of the suffering.
And to to abandon that, first, one needs to generate a mind that strongly wishes to overcome the suffering, to overcome the two origins of the suffering by seeing these two origins of the suffering is root cause or root of all sufferings. And to cultivate such a wish, such a mind or wish, first one needs to understand the the nature or the the the nature of the suffering. So maybe I’ll give you give example here. It might help to understand more clearly. Saying that, say, a new couple and a two person, like, a couple, and they’ve never met each other before and never seen each other and they first met.
And and by by meeting each other, they came to know each other first. So so they met each other and then became a friend first or just get together. And later on, the other woman, lady came to know that the person, that the man, her man is not a not a is a dishonest person and very aggressive and and very angry person. So and so the lady, lady, by seeing that that her partner is not a good not a honest person, and he is a very angry man. He’s dishonest, and he steals things, and then he takes things from their house and takes them out and sells them or whatever.
And then so later on she will see the bad qualities of her partner.