Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. Khensur Rinpoche opens this 50-minute session — the first in a 1992 Easter retreat series — with a brief guided meditation on compassion before turning to the text itself. Eight Verses of Thought Transformation, he explains, belongs to a genre of teaching aimed at reorienting the mind away from ingrained self-centeredness toward a healthier way of thinking. He works through the first three of the text’s seven divisions: the universal wish of all beings for happiness and freedom from suffering; self-grasping and the self-centeredness it generates as the root of all unwanted experience; and other-cherishing as the root of all genuine happiness. He pauses to put the question directly to the audience — asking what reasons they themselves would give for why self-interest arises so automatically — giving the session a participatory feel rather than purely expository one.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 01 8VTT 1992-Easter retreat.mp3
UUID: 98980b9d-85ab-4971-9265-fe19093a5e12
Teacher: Khensur Rinpoche
Collection: 8 Verses Thought Transformation (Khensur Rinpoche)
Date: 1992 (exact day not recorded)
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 50.2 minutes
Words: ~2,145
And how are we going to proceed in our meditation? We’re going to cultivate cultivate the altruistic attitude of the awakening heart. Merely cultivating the awakening heart, this altruistic intention, this kind hearted attitude for five minutes creates a creative a potential equal to space. Since it’s beneficial both for oneself and others, it’s extremely beneficial to cultivate such an attitude. So I’m going to explain as we meditate the means of cultivating such an attitude.
So we’re going to proceed and I’ll explain as we go along. It would be wonderful if myself and all other sentient beings were free from suffering and the causes of suffering. May they be free of suffering and the causes of suffering. Suffering. The way in which we cultivate compassion.
It would be wonderful if myself and all sentient beings have happiness and the causes of happiness. May myself and all sentient beings have happiness and the causes of happiness. The meditation on love. In order to lead myself in all sentient beings in a state of happiness, direct of any suffering. [inaudible]
I will obtain consummate complete excellent quality [inaudible] And then verse number five. Today, we’re going to be discussing the awakening heart. This attitude of the awakening heart, which is altruistic attitude and wishing to benefit both oneself and others, is extremely important because through the awakening heart, we are able to bring about the welfare of both oneself and others. It’s very beneficial and important and precious both for oneself and other.
This term, which in Tibetan is it can be translated as thought transformation or mental training. It represents a transformation of our previously orientation of of our previous orientation of mind into a new way of thinking, a a transformation of our thought process. It it is the making it’s the method, the the genre of this particular category of teaching called thought transformation is a method for orientating our new our mind in a new way. You know, that we can we consist of a body and mind. And the the mind, it is as if we’re taking a path, and we’re not taking the path which we previously went down, but a new path, a new way to approach our mind, a healthy way of mind.
So when we talk about thought transformation, it acknowledges to going to a school where we train in a new way of thinking. And this previous we forego our previous way of thinking and try to orientate ourselves to a new way of thinking, a healthier way of thinking. So the methods which constitute this this reorientation of the way we’re thinking, which can help to transform our mind is what we mean by the genre of thought transformation. We’re going to be looking at a text which was composed by a great master in Tibetan, and he he was a great practitioner, practitioner and he had experience of what he is he is setting forth in this text called eight verses of training the mind or thought transformation and eight stanzas. He he explained in these eight stanzas the way in which we are to cultivate and the way in which we can gain experience of the process of transforming one’s mind.
This text, the thought transformation in eight eight stanzas, it can be divided into seven divisions. And the first of these seven divisions is pertains to the to the fact of answering the question, what is it that we all want that both myself and all living beings? If we examine it, we can come to understand that we both want to be happy. This is the same for everyone. And additionally, that none of us want to suffer.
This is the same for everyone. So if in our meditation, if we were to ask, well, what is it exactly that we want? And we were to examine and investigate, we would come to this first category of division, concluding that everyone wants to be happy. No one wants to suffer. With the second division.
We all possess mental factor of self grasping. And due to self grasping induced by induced by self grasping, we generate self centeredness. It’s also translated as self-cherishing. These two, self grasping and the mind that it of self centered self centeredness which it induces are the roots of all our various faults. They are the foundation of all unwanted factors.
Everything that all everything that is undesirable, that is to say suffering, has its basis in these two factors of mind. Self grasping and that which self grasping induces self centeredness. So these constitute the second division. And with respect to the third division, as we mentioned that we all want happiness and we all want benefit. And we question what is the root of happiness?
What is the root of benefit? And this is other cherishing or translated as other cherishing or or to cherish holding others dear. So the the the root that which brings back brings us back to the the basis of of all our happiness that we all want is other cherishing. With respect to this first division, you know, that this is very clear to all of us. It’s something that we can readily understand.
Comes about through our own individual experiences. You know, we don’t have to rely upon what others say. We don’t even have to rely upon logically logical reason. It is an innate understanding. That is to say that we like happiness as much as possible.
We want that much more happiness. We are all the same in this. We as humans, we we all want happiness and often this happiness would take the form of, for example, the food, clothing, wealth. These are things that we want. Don’t want to suffer.
Tomorrow, today we don’t want to suffer. Tomorrow we won’t want to suffer. The day after that we won’t want to suffer. We all know this. This is quite clear to us.
But, likewise, all sentient beings are exactly the same whether whether it’s human or not. Dogs, cats, horses, insects, they all have this innate want for happiness and not to suffer. We’re all exactly alike in this respect. Why is it that we want to have to consider this? You know, we we experience that a a pleasure pleasure arising either in the body or mind and we like it.
We appreciate it. We value it. This sense of liking pleasure is the reason that we want happiness. That reason that we that we like happiness. Therefore, we want it.
I think that they did the Sabbath with us. So that’s a clear reason, isn’t it? And then And even an insect that we see crawling around, that the the reason it’s doing it is because it wants to be happy. So all that has life is the same in this respect of wanting happiness. On the other hand, suffering is something we don’t want.
We can take ourselves we can understand this fact of not wanting suffering by taking ourselves as example. Each of ourselves individually simply do not want to suffer neither physically nor mentally. We don’t want any pain in our eye, for example, or a hand. Don’t if we get a needle or a a thorn in our hand, we don’t we don’t like it. We don’t want it.
But even we don’t want even the the minors, the most minor of suffering what to say a great suffering. And the same applies to others. We’re taking ourselves as a as a basis, for example, but we can apply that same attitude toward others. All are exactly alike in a sense whether they’re dogs, cats, or insects. None of them want even the slightest of suffering what to say of great suffering.
They’re all the same in that respect. Whoever the being might be, all sentient beings are the same and not wanting suffering. And why is it that they’re they’re they’re not wanting suffering? The moment that some this some displeasure of body or mind is experienced, there’s an unhappiness. We don’t like it.
Based upon this not liking it, we as a reason, we simply don’t want to suffer. Therefore, whoever the being might may be, they are or whosoever want happiness and do not want the suffering. That we’re exactly equal in this respect, in this regard. How however great the being, however small, and it’s significant, none of them wants whosoever ever one want one suffering. None of them not one wanting happiness.
So now we have to consider how we’re going to bring about this in. The fact is that we all want happiness. We don’t want to suffer. We’re all equal in this respect. So what are we to do?
Again, we can’t distinguish between self and others in in from the point of view that we’re all exactly equal. Whoever the being may be equally wants happiness. Equally doesn’t want to suffer. So how are we going to achieve this happiness? How are we going to eliminate our suffering?
So That is that’s another. That’s. Yes. So we we, we are working on this basis of understanding that all sentient beings, all living beings, whosoever want happiness and don’t want to suffer equally. So, we begin to question, well, in bringing happiness, eliminating our suffering, there is the bringing of happiness for myself and eliminating my suffering, on the one hand.
On the other, there is the bringing of happiness of others and eliminating the suffering of others. And, which we would probably, most likely consider that the bringing of one’s own happiness and eliminating of one’s own suffering to be of more importance of these two. So if we were to question, am I to eliminate my own suffering and to bring myself happiness, or am I to eliminate the sufferings of others and bring others happiness? In our meditation, we should reflect in this manner that we should proceed first coming to understand that all living beings are equal and wanting happiness and not wanting to suffer. And then we ask the question to ourselves, should I eliminate the sufferings of myself and bring happiness to myself?
Or should I eliminate eliminate the suffering to others and bring happiness to others? And if we’re honest, there will arise the mind which thinks, I better bring happiness to myself and eliminate my problem. [inaudible] That’s what you would Though as has been explained that all sentient beings are equal and wanting happiness and not wanting to suffer, why does in fact does the thought I have to bring about eliminate my own suffering arise in our mind quite naturally.
It is as we have just previously talked about, that we have a factor of mind of self grasping. Grasping. Due to self grasping, this induces self centeredness. And it’s by the power of our self centeredness that there naturally arises the thought, I have to eliminate my own problems. I have to bring myself happiness.
The influence of these two factors of mind, self grasping and self centeredness that we naturally inclined to desire to bring about our own happiness and to eliminate our own suffering. And on the one hand and on the other, it’s because the the factors of mind of other cherishing and our sense of altruism wishing to benefit others are extremely weak. And therefore, there is there’s not arise the thought that to eliminate the the sufferings of others and to bring about their happiness. This is this is as attitude is simply that that the aside is left out. So, you know, what I what I’ve just explained if these two factors is from my experience in thinking about this.
I I give these very these reasons. What reasons would you give? What do you think? The thinking which I’ve gathered from out of my own experience is that there that is naturally arising thought that I must eliminate my own problems, that I must bring myself happiness arises arises under the influence of first self grasping and then the self centeredness which is induced by self grasping on this on the one hand. And, the reason we don’t have the natural inclination to to to think about eliminating others problems, to bring happiness to others is because of the lack of of other cherishing and and the altruistic attitude which wishes to benefit others.
Due to the lack of these two mental factors, we simply leave others aside. What do you think? The color group would do. So the lack of. So so