Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 48-minute commentary, Khensur Rinpoche opens his series on the Eight Verses of Training the Mind — composed by the Kadampa master Geshe Langri Tangpa — with a striking image: a wish-granting jewel retrieved from ocean mud, cleaned on auspicious dates, hoisted atop a pillar, and prayed to for everything one needs. Sentient beings, he argues, are like that jewel trapped in disturbing emotions — recognising them as the basis for cultivating bodhicitta is the core of verse one. Verse two counters pride: always place yourself lower than whoever you are with, whether teachers, equals, or animals. The closing section traces how an untrained mind, driven by desire and pride, accumulates negative actions — and why applying antidotes to disturbing emotions is the start of genuine mind training.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 01 8VTT 1999 06 12.mp3
UUID: 039cce1f-0842-4742-bda0-07f81c6f731d
Teacher: Khensur Rinpoche
Collection: 8 Verses Thought Transformation (Khensur Rinpoche)
Date: 1999-06-12
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 47.6 minutes
Words: ~2,639
So the great master, Tsongkhapa, stated that we should we should not attach it to the attach towards the the wealth toward happiness towards the worldly happiness and should develop a mind wishing to free from the suffering of saṃsāra. And he also stated that at this time we have at the time we have attained the precious human rebirth with the eight leisures and ten endowments. And while having this opportunity or precious human rebirth, you should cultivate a bodhicitta by holding others more important than oneself and attained and and seek seek and seek enlightenment for the sake of those sentient beings. And also cultivate that also cultivate the wisdom realizing emptiness which is the which is the main object to uproot it the sorry, which is to overcome or eliminate the causes of disturbing suffering which is disturbing emotions from its root and also the wisdom realizing emptiness which is the path the path which pleases the, you know, which pleases all the conquerors. So he has mentioned here that to you, the disciples, fortunate ones who has developed the renunciation or wish to free from the cyclic existence and have also developed bodhicitta and here through such motivation, should listen to the teaching with great respect and faith.
So now today, the topic of today’s teaching is called the eight point eight verses of training training the mind, which is given by which is given by taught by the great bodhisattva, Kadampa Geshe, Langri Tangpa. So and now I’ll hear give the teaching through the Eight Verses of Eight Verses eight eight eight verses of training the mind and also go we’ll go through the commentary on that topic given by the Geshe. And Geshe Chekawa is also the one who Kadampa great great Kadampa Geshe who composed or who has taught who has composed the the teaching of Seven Point mind training and he is the one who has developed bodhicitta. Has said that he has received teaching, received the teaching on Eight Verses of mind training from the great master called the great master called the and he received the teaching from that great master before he became a. And he said that so by listening this teaching from his master and he has been able to he developed a great respect or faith towards the Kadampa teaching and he always and he recite this teaching every time but he and contemplated its meanings but he was not able to gain certainty with he was but he couldn’t develop the meaning of this teaching within his mind within his continuum mind stream.
But he said that by contemplating on this teaching it brings great help. It brings good help in practices also brings also very helpful, very good for mind, one’s mind training. And then he said he again received the commentary on this teaching from the great great Kadampa Geshe called Geshe Sharawa and by receiving a teaching from him he studied on this or he meditated upon this teaching for twelve years and finally he has developed bodhicitta. bodhicitta, yes. So we’ll go through the teaching now and then the first verse the first verse of the of chapter is about the about cultivating a bodhicitta and which I guess you have got all the copies which I know before.
So he says that with the with the determination to accomplish the highest welfare for all sentient beings who surpasses. Who surpass even a wish-granting jewel in each world, I will learn to hold them supremely dear. So which is to cultivate bodhicitta now. So here I here refers to the master himself, master Geshe Kadampa Geshe Langri Tangpa and he says that he always hold the other sentient beings more important and more valuable than the wish he also said the wish-granting jewel or wish-fulfilling gem which is which is also said to be as valuable as same as the sentient beings are same as wish-granting jewel which so he also said that the beings are also the same and so here the wish-granting jewel is example as sentient beings. So the reason why the example has given here, the wish-granting jewel is given as an example for changing things because it’s been said that the wish-granting jewel is usually found in the mud or deep at the depth of the oceans.
But so that wish-granting jewel itself cannot water. It’s I mean, the mud, they clean clean it and clean itself. So it’s been said that so what you so if one takes that wish-granting jewels out of the mud, like some like on special dates like fifteen of the month, Tibetan lunar calendar and then wipe it or clean it on certain special days. And then after cleaning that, we should bring a new gem and place it or tie up in a very long on the top of the pillar and then make request prayers with due with due respect and with due respect and making offerings to it and then make prayers and ask them ask for request to have give you what you want. And it has been said that you can it it can give everything what you ask, you know, not for a shelter, food, so forth.
So by by making prayers to that wish-granting jewel, you can fulfill what one’s and other’s wishes like wanting wealth, yeah, wanting wealth, food, and so forth. So but the example here but by looking to this example, we can know that it’s very very ancient ancient sort of teaching and ancient sort of example because in early days, ancient times, there’s no money, there’s no farmer, they’re growing crops and so forth. What they’re is more and less sort of like seeking the wish-granting jewels and making prayers. You’re requesting them to give what you want. And not, it seems like that because those sentient beings in the ancient time, they are very they have very kind heart and also have great merits and great store of merits due because of that having great faith and having great faith.
So whatever they make, request to the wish-granting jewel, it seems like they’re getting it. So so the for us for ex so for the sentient beings, so sentient beings are like the spiritual jewels and they are stuck in the mud of the disturbing emotions. And so and without depending on others, they are not able to free themselves from the disturbing emotions and the suffering. So as the sentient beings are not able to free themselves from those disturbing emotions, the matter of disturbing emotions and suffering. So we need to help them, help to free them from those from the suffering and disturbing emotions through developing love, love, affection, compassion, and then through this you should free beings from self-cherishing and destructive emotions.
So on one hand, we need to develop develop a great love towards sentient beings and through this love towards sentient beings to have all the happiness. And through this we to in order to free them, we should through developing a love, you should then train in the practice or not train in the physics of perfection, not practicing giving guiding ethical discipline and so forth and through teachings. So you should develop the love, compassion, special insight to free all the sentient beings from those sufferings and that as for the benefit of doing these practices what we get is we have been able to develop compassion, love and special insight and through this we can have or develop we can develop the bodhicitta within oneself so if you if you develop it, bodhicitta’s altruistic intention by focusing on sentient beings. And the so by having this altruistic intention we then through this we can attain or accomplish once both the temporary and ultimate happiness. So we can we can we can attain both the temporal and ultimate wishes through this bodhicitta or altruistic intention.
It is because by developing a bodhicitta, due to that, by the power of the bodhicitta we can avoid all the negative actions we have performed through the disturbing emotion in our past life and then so we can abandon all this and then also by the power of that bodhicitta we can avoid cultivating new non-virtues through disturbing emotions. So by by abandoning the by by abandoning the disturbing emotions or non-virtues, so through the through the power of that, then we through this, we will not have the, we don’t need to suffer because the suffering won’t come because there’s no non-virtues within oneself. Us. And due to due to and and also due to that, bodhicitta, we’ve been able we can we can we can virtues of merit, the virtues which we have cultivated in the past, the part that that will increase. And and we and to this and we caught in the non virtue positive actions we cultivate a new new positive actions we cultivate through the altruistic intention that now what’s cheaper than the result we can enjoy or have used this result for a long time in a sense without any interruptions.
So through the power of that altruistic intention then we can develop. We can have we can we can develop we can develop the correct the renunciation, correct correct view and also being able to also cultivate or develop the bodhicitta and as a result for that we can accomplish the ultimate and temporal wishes which are the temporary achievement is higher rebirths and then the ultimate one is enlightenment. So here, all those beings who worship or who make prayer make prayers to the wish-granting jewels and then due to due to that the power of the wish-granting jewel, they’re able to fill for the the oneself and others from all the have been have lasting wealth which both have lasting wealth which both themselves, both that one person and then others can use for a long time. And for the bodhisattvas, they have cultivated the both through the power of the sentient beings they’ve been able to cultivate the bodhicitta and renunciation and the result of that they have attained the high both temporary and ultimate happiness. So this refers that the wish-granting jewel and sentient beings.
I mean, it’s giving as an example or taken as a place of here. So so as so sentient beings the sentient beings are are are the main basis or the are the main or perfect or the excellent basis to accomplish once both accomplish both temporal and ultimate happiness. So due to that, one should hold the sentient beings dearly and then pay respect through three doors body, speech and mind. So for here, the great master Śāntideva has stated that in order achieve the enlightenment, should one needs a help from both sides, the both side from the the teacher or the teachers who shows who teaches you the path. And then another part, we need help from sentient beings because through sentient beings, we develop the bodhicitta and compassion bodhicitta and so forth.
So so by by knowing that one has to depend or seek needs help from both sentient beings, he says that the both sentient beings and the conquerors are saying to towards oneself to attain enlightenment. So he asked the questions to the to us. They’re saying that, so as you know, that both sentient beings and the the conquerors are same because are same are same for one to achieve. Enlightenment. So so as it is saying, while we make great offerings to Buddhas and Buddhas and and not making offerings to other things.
Because we we we do prostrations, pay respects towards the conquerors, and then contempt sentient beings and argue with them and fight with them. That’s what we are So now the second verse, we’re going to the second verse, which is whenever I associate with others, I will learn to think of myself as the lowest among all and respectfully hold others to be supreme from the very depth of my heart. So what he says is that where wherever you stay and wherever you go, you should always put yourself as hold your place yourself lower than the sentient beings. So here, the sentient beings to put all sentient beings are more important and more important than you. They refer sentient beings here refers to the ones including sentient to all, which is pay respects towards your teachers, masters, Buddhas, Buddhas, then and and beings who are equal with you say the Dharma, spiritual friends who accompany you to practice teachings and may help you, I mean accompany you to do meditations.
And beings who are lower states, say the animals including animals like insects, dogs, so forth. And so here the sentient beings refers to all sentient beings and as they are like the wish-granting jewel, you should you should hold them dearly and pay great respect. So so the teaching is called the mind training. And so up to now, so in the earlier, we haven’t because we haven’t had any practices of training mind and due to that, we always make mistakes about directing one’s mind because and so as we don’t know how to direct one’s mind and due to that we always cherish oneself more important than others and and that mind is more our mind gets becomes influenced or controlled by the controlled by the desire, hatred and so forth. So due to that, so we because of lacking that practices we are controlled by a mind and that mind is controlled by or influenced by disturbing emotions.
And through this, we accumulate great, we engage in cultivating the negative actions through body, speech, and mind through three doors and as a result for that, we suffer. So so that happens because our mind is not being trained. So now here we should practice the teachings and listen to the teaching and by listening one notes the meaning or the meaning of the teachings and through this we should now train your minds that one should not be influenced by one’s mind and then and and then never let one’s mind be controlled by the disturbing emotions. So this is called through this we train our mind. So so so here, we should not we should not let our mind be controlled by the disturbing emotions.
So in order to free one’s mind from the disturbing mind from under the control of the disturbing emotions, what we need to do is we need to apply antidotes towards the disturbing emotions and abandon all the disturbing emotions from its root. No? So in order to free one’s mind from one mind under control of disturbing emotions we need to apply the antidotes towards the disturbing emotion. The so if asked how one should apply an antidote to a disturbing emotion, here the present topic or present verses is that we should always put put one step lower than others when with one yeah. Always hold oneself lower than lower than the one who one associates with.
So here, because normally what we do is we always develop the pride that whenever you no matter to whom or where one goes or to whom one deals with, one always being proud by once saying that I’m from the low I mean from the upper class or the high caste and then hang on, be uneducated, have good physical appearance and so so forth. So through this various through this so from this from the various sort of basis, one accumulates, develops the pride and should and should and then then through this pride or through this pride, one one.