Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. Using a vivid image — spotting your mother in a crowd and feeling an irresistible pull to embrace her — Khensur Rinpoche illustrates what it means to truly see all beings as lovable. In this 48-minute commentary on the Seven-Point Mind Training, he works through all seven points of this bodhicitta-generating system drawn from Maitreya and Asaṇga. He opens by distinguishing analytical from placement meditation, then moves sequentially through developing equanimity, recognizing all beings as former mothers across numberless rebirths, recalling their kindness (illustrated by a mother bird feeding her chicks and a $10,000 gift analogy), repaying that kindness, and seeing beings as appealing. He closes by introducing equalizing self and others in their shared wish for happiness, and examining self-cherishing as the root of all suffering.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 10 7P 1998 10 05.mp3
UUID: 52855d11-f40b-413d-8a9a-e8ee634b4ea6
Teacher: Khensur Rinpoche
Collection: 7 Point Mind Training (Khensur Rinpoche)
Date: 1998-10-05
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 48.5 minutes
Words: ~3,779
So and so by thinking of thinking about this, the kind things, what they have done in this life and past lives and so forth. And by doing this, normally we have two kinds of meditation here, one is the placement meditation, one is the analytical meditation or yeah, analytical meditation, and one is the placement of placement meditation. And and so by thinking about the kindness of those beings and about this life and the past life and by knowing and then you came to know them, you you you’ve been able to know the kindness of their kindness of every beings in this life, kindness or any anything in this life and next life, sorry in the past life, but so by checking or looking that is we are doing the the analytical meditation, but when the thing, when you investigate about on the kindness of those beings, what they have done in this life or thinking about the task or what they have really helped you or what they have done in this life in the past. And by doing doing this, we are doing the analytical meditation and and after having after having done this analytical meditation, you came to know, oh, now they are in your mind, you think that, oh, they they have done same, like same help, same kind shown shown same kindness and same harm.
So I shouldn’t feel I shouldn’t feel hatred and feeling to the different people, just raise the equal. And by knowing after knowing they are all same kind to me, shown same kind to me, thinking that and you have to keep your mind focused or placed on these three objects which means you’re placing your mind which is placing your mind on that particular images and then meditate. To meditate is like doing the placement meditation or placement meditation. Means your mind has been settled on this particular three objects and then meditate. So in the in the west, people like people like the word meditation.
And so meditation the word meditation itself means is to is to familiarize one’s mind. And so what we are doing is that at the moment we just look upon the three images and investigate is or thinking about their kindness or their harms in the past, this in the past. It’s like doing the analytical meditation and you’re thinking about those beings and do this once, I’m say today and then say tomorrow and it continues with doing this tomorrow and then day after and day after. And then sooner or later through your meditation your mind becomes familiarized with your practice and then later, sooner or later without thinking means without any like, without thinking means, I mean, your mind just can’t it’s been very used to it or familiarized with this practice and without any without thinking means without any effort. I mean, you can just do can do it very very nicely or perfectly.
And the first one is, yeah, is the first topic and the first one is developing the equanimity to all sentient beings without any discrimination of field, group, or something like that. And now the second one is recognizing all sentient beings as as one’s mother. And so the way how we can develop that feeling that how I mean, how we can recognize all sentient beings as one’s mother. It’s not because we don’t have to prove for this mother of this life because without any proof you you know that you can recognize your mother without any. You don’t have to check, alright, you will know.
And this, think about this present present mother and she has became your mother in this life and think that she has also not done your mother for your many time act act act act your mother or became your mother many times in the past year, past lives? So so our rebirths, our births, our our past lifetimes, our past births are numberless. Alright? And and in those previous life, numberless, that your present mom has done or act as your mother for many times in the past but not always. So as because our life has been numberless from since from the beginning and and then your the present mom cannot do the mom all all the time.
And then so the second person, the neutral being has became act as have have done your mother in the previous life. And also the third being, which is the enemy, has also became your mother in your previous lifetime as well. So so there there is not a single sentient being in sentient beings who who hasn’t became your mother. Because our our previous lifetimes, our previous lives are numberless, it’s immeasurable or numberless because of that sentient beings, there’s not a sentient being sentient being hasn’t become actual mother. Other two being has also act as your mother and there is the same kindness, same help.
You have received same kindness and same help from from those three beings because in this lifetime and by knowing how you receive the kindness or help from your present mother, she gave birth to you and she looked after you and she helped, mean, anything what she had done. So likewise, the other beings, the two other beings has acted your mother in the previous life and they have done the same to you as your present mother done to you. So so there is no use of discriminating or discriminating or like feeling love to your present mother and hate to enemies. There’s no use of doing this. They have shown equal kindness to you.
No. No. So for example, we don’t have there’s no any diff there’s no difference in a two person. One is a person who gave you a ten thousand dollars in last year and then a person who gave you ten thousand dollars in this year because they are same because both have given you a ten thousand dollars. So but what we we cannot it’s very hard for us to know think that that all sentient beings are our mother because they have acts there were others that have acts have became or have done our mother in the past life.
But in past life, they have done, but we we have entered our life, so we’ve we take a new rebirth or next birth this time, and we couldn’t recognize their kindness. And we could and also we we couldn’t recognize our past time. Because of that, we don’t we it’s hard for us to recognize sentient beings as our mother because we we cannot recall our past lives. For example So it’s it’s very hard for because we cannot recall our previous life and because of that, we can’t recognize the same beings or our mothers. For example, there there is a possibility they are like, suppose one of our parents, your parent say, so one’s mother passed and Joe’s mother passed, passed, I’m sorry, and then there is a possibility that his mother can take the birth as his daughter or his son, but he can hardly recognize that his daughter or son is his mother.
No. So so because because of our death, we don’t recognize sentient beings or our mothers, but in fact, they are our mothers. They have done act as act as act our moms. And now, the the so so say that the second is the recognizing. Now, recognizing all sentient beings as one’s mother.
And now the third one is The the third one is recalling their kindness. Three. Yeah. Third one. Three.
I remember which I said number three. So the kindness of recalling, it’s very it’s very easy for us to recall our present mother’s kindness and because we can we can we can we can know that what she she has done to us, we can know she given a birth to us and then protect us from any harms and try to bring shelter or assist us so it’s very easy for us to recall her kindness. So you should do so recalling the present mother’s kindness is very easy and one can really do this. And by recalling the present mother’s kindness and one should and then place it or change of object to the other sentient beings and think that likewise, the same as my mother, present mother, they have the other beings have done the same kindness, shown same kindness and given the same help in the past life. So for example, like have been shown have been our mother and have shown great kindness and great help to us.
And but but but recognize the as our mother, it doesn’t has to be only a human form because we have taken there is no such a form we have we haven’t taken we haven’t taken any form in this world. We have taken various, all the kind all kinds of forms in. And like all kind of birds means animals or and etcetera. And every time but sentient beings have become your mother in in different forms as well like animals. For example, we can see in this present time even for a bird, how they give a bird to their child, at first they lay the egg and hatch it and then how they feed those birds.
And you can see the kindness of the bird, a mother bird to her mother, sorry, a baby bird or a kid, isn’t it? I don’t know. So all sentient beings has done the same as same kindness we have shown to your mother or the same kindness a mother would show to her baby birth. Oh, yes. No.
He actually said yes. Saw that later. The machine mean, asked me to say yes when I finished, I finished because it’s been good. So the third one is recalling the kindness and by doing this at third point we came to know that the kindness of our sentient beings and it’s not just enough by remembering or knowing the kindness of sentient beings and by knowing that one should really need to try to repay the kindness and when we were young our parents have shown their kindness and look after us and we have been dependent on those, our parents. And then later we grow up and then like grown up child about twenty years and then parents start getting older and older and then at that stage we should really need to repay their kindness, we have to help them and if one didn’t repay their kindness then it’s very bad and I don’t know in the west but in our custom kind of a person, yeah, in our custom, a person who didn’t repay or look after their parents when they became all weak and it’s very bad.
And in the terms of Mahāyāna practice, remembering the kindness of a being who who shown their kindness and and repaying back their kindness is is very important. Back their important and if one didn’t do this kind of practice and even in the terms of, in the Mahāyāna practice, then we can say the person is not a Mahāyāna or he is not really doing any practice because, so the repaying their kindness is very important and so the sorry, the fourth point is repaying their kindness. This is the fourth. So as you know, in Tibet in in Tibet that we have the Mahāyāna teaching has been flourishing in Tibet and we have that kind of systems exist in Tibet. So through that, like all Tibetan people, when they were young, they’ve been dependent upon their parents and parents look after them.
And later when parents become older and students have grown up and then at the time of that, this student, I keep saying student, the children or the son’s daughter or son, they love their parent when they become older and older and at them they look very I mean, the parents have been well looked but take care by their children and and children really like their mother or dad very very dearly or no. Have full strong affection. Yeah. So in you know, the people in it seems like people in olden days in Tibet that they wake early in the morning because it’s like a normal, they have everything to the skull or like, to the milk, etcetera. So so when parents become become older and then the the children’s, like daughter or son, take a risk of responsibility, risk of family and they all they always say the parents now don’t wake up early, have a nice I’m just asleep and then we’ll wake up we’ll make and they’ll make everything and they work do all the works and they and then serve like they make food, etcetera, and that, you know, and early in the morning, the bedtime tea, like, they just morning tea in the bed, just straw, and then and whenever they get a chance to buy a cloth, and they just try to offer the best to their parent and saying, don’t work, just sit and eat and then meditate.
Alright. No work at all. So if if one if one can really recall the kindness of sentient beings, kindness of your mother, then one can one can one can do this kind of practice and if and if someone who hasn’t got any that kind of knowledge and didn’t recall their kindness, then there’s a danger of just, I mean, mistreating their parent and sometimes they just set it off and don’t stay here, know, it’s ours and you, you know. So the main important is one one need to have one one has to have a knowledge of recalling their kindness. So and that one is the fourth one, recalling their kindness.
And the fifth one is it’s not sent beings are they like appealing as appeared as So, yeah. So the fifth one is sentient beings as looking or seeing sentient beings as lovable. No. So the fifth one is that one is sort of seeing sentient beings as lovable because it’s not if one have a proper knowledge of recalling their kindness or thinking about of their kindness, then one can really have one can see all sentient beings as lovable because, say, there is it’s it’s for example, someone who has proper knowledge of recalling the kindness of their parent or a mother. Now whenever the person see his or her mother in a crowd or anywhere, it just feel I mean I mean, I mean, her mother very beautiful or lovable, and then you just go in even in the crowd, there’s extra feeling with extra feeling when you see your mother in a crowd, and I said, and just go like, ah, my mother is there and just hug and embrace her.
So it’s like so you you are being able to do this kind of feeling, like showing seeing mother as lovable and very she’s she’s the only one in the pub in the crowd is because you can because you can see or you know the kindness of her her kindness. So so by seeing if you have proper knowledge of recalling the kindness of sentient beings, then one really can see the sentient beings or seeing sentient beings as lovable. Standing in front of you and and the and a person who gave you a ten thousand dollars and last year is is included in that ten people. And then you have an extra feeling when you even the ten, When you just see it and you because you can recall his I mean, what he has done in your life and done in last year and said, but you have I mean, so you have extra feeling and just lovable and find that person very kind of not I mean, find that people not similar to other people. Alright?
So it is because of his kindness. No. It is because of taking his kindness of giving you the ten thousand dollars. And the big thing. You just go straight and how can So if you have a proper knowledge of your mother’s kindness, then you you can generate the same feeling like that to a person. You just hug him because of his kindness. So the appealing appealing and the lovable is like that.
If you have if you can recall the kindness of those beings, then you can see something extra with that person all the time. So so the fifth one is recalling no. Sorry. Sentient beings is appealing all. And has started here, this is the system of generating a bodhicitta which is which develops or comes passed on from Maitreya and Asaṇga.
So he concludes here of the first session. Okay. Which is he took this out from the system of Maitreya and Asaṇga. Today is So it’s very important to know, I mean, what what what is the benefit of doing this practice and what it helps us to. So it’s very important for us to know about the benefits and importance of doing this.
It is, thirty why we are doing this is because, you know, we have we need to raise develop a kind of mind, a mind of like, reason or mind to help others and which are the love and compassion is the kind, it’s the mind which always help others and we have to develop these two, love and compassion. And to generate or to achieve, to develop love and compassion within oneself, one needs to have these five methods to develop. So these five categories helps or are the method or method to develop love and compassion. And so if you if you know, if you understand this practice five points very perfectly or vividly and then bring bring them, put them into practice, then you can really see sentient beings, you can you can really generate affection and the love for all sentient beings and the love, the feeling of affection and love for all sentient beings would come without any effort. Even if you say don’t come, it will come by itself.
If you have, can do this correctly. And if you don’t train in this five points, then love and compassion will never come up. So like, say this, you have a nice field, sorry, field and and you want to grow something and you have made everything ready like good manure and enough rain and sun, heat rains and manure and so the land has become very fertile and very okay or suitable to grow a crop and you just sow a seed. And if all the conditions are perfect or are present then even if you say don’t grow, it will grow up by itself. You don’t get to worry.
If the field is not fertile, where land is very dry and etcetera, it’s not okay to grow up. Even if you sow and then pray, please, I mean, I wish to have a good crop, something like that, it will never happen. So it’s like the five, if you have this five points, even if you say no, will come by itself, love and affection and love or compassion to sentient beings. If you don’t have that, even if you ask or pray to generate love and affection it will never come. Now, the sixth point which is is like the equalizing means that they are saying equalizing saying So equalizing that all sentient beings are saying they wish No.
So the sixth one is equalizing oneself equalizing oneself and others. We’re saying that both wish happiness and does not want suffering. So so generate the equanimity which equalizing that also oneself and sentient beings wish happiness in terms of one’s suffering. So we have taken talked to two kind of equanimity, the first one and the sixth one. But the but we have there is a difference in the benefits of doing the first one and the second one.
No? Or the power, these different powers. This is not a good No. So it’s so it’s simple. And it’s simple that you know how how one wishes one wishes to have happiness.
And one one one needs all the happiness in all the happiness in the world. What I mean what what kind of any what any kind of happiness in this world one wishes to have it? And about the suffering, like, don’t one forget about the bigger, I mean, sufferings, even one doesn’t wish to have it today. So and so turn the so think all and then focus on the any kind of sentient beings they are same like you as you the one all the happiness, any kind of happiness it exists in this world and doesn’t want even a tiny tax or a suffering. So, and if you waste the same means in yourself, there are any kind of same means in yourself.
If you wait, it’s the same, the same amount or same wish of having happiness and same wish of same the same they have a same wish of happiness and does not want the same amount of unwillingness to suffering. No. No. And now now sixth, have that equanimity of the feeling of equanimity, which is seeing that all sentient beings, oneself and sentient beings are same. They are same wishing happiness and doesn’t want suffering.
And by thinking that my second point is comes seeing the and one should, the seven point is the fault of, which we have talked about, we have talked about it yesterday about the disadvantages of self-cherishing. And to buy it, the sixth, at the sixth stage or sixth point, we are equanimity. We are equal. Seeing, sending be oneself and sending means as equal, which have both wanting happiness than one suffering. And then the seventh point, think about now and think.
Now about the suffering. Now both are saying wishes happiness and doesn’t want suffering. And I think now which person should have this happiness? And by thinking that if one generate if say I want self happiness means then it comes the self-cherishing and then think about the disadvantages of having self-cherishing attitude and finding the self-cherishing attitude is the root of all the sufferings. So the sixth one, the seventh one is we said thinking about the disadvantages of having self-cherishing attitude.