Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. Khensur Rinpoche works through five of the eleven constructive mental factors in this 54-minute session from his Awareness and Knowledge series. He opens with effort — defined via Śāntideva as joy specifically in constructive action — and observes that wisdom without effort leaves one like a corpse, unable to accomplish anything. He then covers pliancy (mental flexibility to direct attention wherever and for as long as one wishes), conscientiousness (guarding against harmful impulses such as harming or stealing, while steering the mind toward positive action), equanimity (keeping the mind free from the three root afflictions: attachment, anger, and ignorance), and non-harmfulness (not mere absence of ill-will but active affection wishing to benefit others). He ties the session together with a vivid analogy: traveling Tibetan roads once meant contending with bandits and obstacles — the spiritual path is no different, and these mental factors are the antidotes that keep the journey progressing.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 28 AK 1989-02-23.mp3
UUID: ee76cefd-edde-44e2-813e-256ff55ce3b6
Teacher: Khensur Rinpoche
Collection: Awareness and Knowledge 1988-1989 (Khensur Rinpoche)
Date: 1989-02-23
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 53.9 minutes
Words: ~2,613
So we should adjust our motivation such that in order to attain Buddhahood whereby to assist all sentient beings to place them in the complete and perfect bliss and happiness of Buddhahood, that it’s necessary to engage in listening to the teachings on the great vehicle. And therefore, with such a motivation that I’m going to listen to these teachings. So within the context of the discussion of awareness and knowledge, we’re discussing the section on mind and mental factors. And within that, within the various types of mental factors, there are constructive and destructive types of mental factors. And now we’re reviewing the afflictive emotions of the destructive mental factors.
So, independence of our constructive mental factors, we experience happiness. So I made a mistake. We’re discussing constructive mental factors, and we’ve we’ve reached up to amongst the eleventh effort. This which is the seventh. So thus, Śāntideva defines a, the mental factor of effort as a, a mental factor that joyously intent upon engaging in constructive actions.
Finds joy in engaging in constructive actions. Constructive actions, you know, for example, meditating during prostrations. All types of various types, all various types of constructive action. The mind which, mental factor which takes joy in such types of actions is what is known as effort. For example, when we do Guru Puja or offerings to the spiritual master here, then the, you know, when one comes in and finds it to be a very happy experience, one finds it coming together in this way to be a joyful experience and one makes a lot of finds the activity of chanting and the meditating in this way as being a happy experience, then this is the sign that this mental factor of effort is being applied.
So, when we talk about the various activities in applying to the specific case of listening to a teaching on the Dharma, a mind which finds a great deal of happiness and listening to the Dharma which thinks, oh, you know, this is, I really find this very interesting. I find it a wonderful experience to be listening to such teachings. If we just extend this to all types of constructive actions, a mind which thinks that it’s a happy experience simply to be engaging in the various types of constructive actions. So it’s so set your mind as effort. Effort and within the context of these eleven constructive mental factors is a happy mind.
It’s a joyous mind. You know, it’s laughing. It’s It’s not there’s nothing it’s not like it’s a it’s engaging in something which it finds extremely difficult. It’s not kind of a having a black face. So, there are many people who like, enjoy engaging in destructive types of actions, unskillful types of actions.
And they go to a lot of trouble, make a great deal of difficulty for themselves, engaging in destructive actions. We would not term this as effort. Effort is always the the mind which is finding happiness, but only in constructive types of actions, activities. So as, what is the function of effort? What is its action or function?
As Śāntideva says that with effort, there’s nothing which cannot be accomplished. And what he means to say here is that effort has the function whereby we are able to attain any constructive goal that we seek. It’s because the reason that we don’t achieve our constructive goals is simply that we don’t have the mental factor of effort present. But it only applies to constructive types of goals. Therefore, effort has the function of enabling us to achieve constructive goals.
It says within in the text, entering Into the Middle Way, that by the means of effort, all the various constructive goals will be accomplished. It goes on to explain that no matter what types of constructive goals that we might set for ourselves, that, for example, whether it’s simply in the immediate type of constructive goal, such as the two accumulations of positive potential and wisdom, or whether it’s liberation or Buddhahood, there’s nothing which cannot be attained through the application of effort. But then on the other hand, though we might have wisdom, if we do not have the mental factor of effort, then it’s as if we were a corpse. You know, a corpse is not able to accomplish anything, any type of activity, even though it might, and likewise, even though we might have wisdom, if we do not apply the mental factor of effort, we’re never going to accomplish anything. So the the ultimate function of effort is the fulfillment of our spiritual activities.
Without the mental factor of effort, then we will accomplish nothing. But with it, then all our spiritual efforts can be come to culmination. So we have to be mindful. Keep in mind this fact that effort is extremely important. No matter what we might do, if we do not, in the way of, spiritual activities, positive types of engagements, activities, if we do not make effort, then we’re never going to accomplish anything.
So the next mental factor, the eleven constructive or skillful mental factors is the eighth, which is pliancy. And as we were discussing Tuesday nights, this teaching on calm abiding, there were two types of pliancies, mental and physical. Here we’re talking specifically about mental pliancy. So the factor of plant has the effect, so it’s a mental factor which has the effect of enabling the mind to engage and to remain on any type of constructive object that it wishes. Know, no matter what the activity might be, whether we’re, for example, engaging in meditations, whether we’re doing prostrations, whether we’re doing the Guru Puja, the offerings to the spiritual master, that we can direct the mind in any direction that we desire, whenever we desire, and for however long we desire toward any type of object that we desire.
And this is the factor of pliancy. It’s like a flexibility. So this ability, which is like a, of the mind, which, you know, it’s likened to a flexibility or pliancy, that’s what the word indicates. It’s the opposite of rigidity or a toughness, inflexibility of the mind. You know, whatever we wish, for example, if we wanted to meditate on compassion, the mind would, would quite naturally engage in that object for as long as we wanted.
Or whether we wanted to meditate on love, whether we wanted to meditate on emptiness. We simply, wherever we direct our mind, it it flows in that direction for however long as we want and remains there as long as we want toward any type of object that we desire. So pliancy has the function of of the of eliminating all discordant factors. It has the function of eliminating all discordant factors which interrupt the intentionality of the mind. In our practice, it aids us in making, of being able to abandon, apply the antidotes, and preventing the interruptions of all discordant factors, of all discordant factors.
So it has this function of eliminating, causing us, alleviating and abandoning, applying antidotes, eliminating all discordant factors such as faults, abandonments, faults, Obscurations. And interruptions. So it’s extremely important mental factor in developing the excellent qualities of the mind. Then the the ninth of the eleventh constructive mental factors is conscientiousness. Conscientiousness.
Conscientiousness is a mental factor which has the nature of guarding the mind from contaminated contaminated engage, from engaging in the contaminated actions, maybe guarding the mind against engaging in unskillful actions such as guarding the mind against engaging in unskillful actions such as harmfulness, such as harming, hurting, desire. So, the effect of conscientiousness has the nature of guarding the mind against an engagement in unskillful actions such as harming, hurting, desire, and influencing the mind toward constructive actions and influences the mind to move toward constructive actions. So this factor of conscientiousness guards or prevents one from engaging in such types of unskillful actions such as harm, harming others, hurting others, desire, and influences one to move in the direction of engaging in positive actions and increasing positive mental states. Increasing the positive mental states. Engaging in positive mental actions and increasing positive states.
So it’s conscientiousness which would prevent us from, for example, if we had intention to hurt someone, we would, oh I shouldn’t do that. It’s, it’s, know, if I were to do that action, I, I would hurt them and this would be, very unkind to me. Or if I were going to steal something that it prevents you from going ahead and stealing, thinking that such a type of activity would, would be would bring harm to another person. It would be unkind to the other person. Therefore, having the intention to engage in some unskillful action, it prevents you or guards you from actually carrying that out.
And on the other hand, it influences you to act in a positive manner toward others. So consciousness has a function of acting as the basis or the cause for the for bringing to us complete happiness of all the various good things. So these the mental factors that we’ve covered are extremely important to our practice. Without such types of mental factors then there’s no way that we can really develop ourselves spiritually into the factors that we’ve, for example, the various factors that we’ve covered such as self shame, embarrassment, conscientiousness, which causes to help us to purify any type of negativities that we’ve created that we have, can actually, dependence upon these develop regret and therefore engage in activities like confession and also the mental factor of effort. Without these, then there’s way that we can really progress in our practice.
So these various constructive mental factors are, you know, are are very necessary to our practice. Without them, there’s no way that we can really develop ourselves. It’s, you know, we’re very much in, to some degree, in struggle with the negative aspects of our own mind. It’s as if, you know, in traveling a path in Tibet, for example, that used to be the case when in traveling the roads of Tibet there was a lot of danger involved. There were a lot of obstacles.
There were a lot of hindrances. You know, both natural, but also man made, such as people trying, there were bandits, there were thieves, there were robbers. And they were all trying to take away your possessions and they would prevent you from getting to your destination safely. Likewise, in traveling the spiritual path, in our journey we have a lot of hindrances. We have a lot of factors within our own mind which must be overcome such as the various afflictive emotions.
In order to prevent them from creating an obstacle to our spiritual development, we have to make use of various antidotes. And the only way that we’re going to actually, to implement these antidotes is if we have these positive mental factors in our mind, such as self shame, embarrassment, effort, conscientiousness. And in dependence upon these mental factors, then we can overcome the afflictive emotions and travel our paths that, and develop on spiritual journey. So it’s a matter of increasing the positive factors within our mind and decreasing those negative factors. You know our mind, due to prior habituation, we naturally develop afflictive emotions in various negative mental states.
And so we have to actually make effort in applying the various antidotes. As one negative mental state, afflictive emotion arises, we apply an antidote and that no longer a hindrance to us. Again, afflictive emotion arises and again we apply an antidote. And this particular afflictive emotion can no longer harm us. And this way the destructive tendencies within our mind decrease and the constructive positive influences begin to increase in the mind.
This is the way we develop in the dharma. So the tenth of the eleven constructive mental factors is equanimity. And just in general, there are various types of equanimity. There’s, for example, feelings of equanimity, non discrimination equanimity. There’s various categories.
But in general, you know, we’re talking, if we talk about the various types of afflictive emotions first, there are said to be eighty four thousand afflictive emotions. But there of these eighty four thousand, there are three root afflictive emotions. So the three root afflicting emotions are attachment, anger, and ignorance. So in this in the context of the the eleven constructive mental factors, when we mention, when we talk about equanimity, we’re talking about a mental factor which prevents us, which causes mind to not enter into either of these three root afflictions, but on the contrary, causes the mind to abide in a constructive state. So it is the mental factor of equanimity, equanimity, equanimity, which prevents us from entering into the three root afflictions, and on the other hand, causes us to make effort productive and engaging in productive states of mind.
So equanimity has equanimity equanimity has the function of preventing the mind from entering into the negative states and increasing positive states. The eleventh constructive mental state, mental mental factor is, non harmfulness. Non harmfulness. And this is, this is a mental factor which, which lacks any intention to do harm which lacks intention to do harm, but on the contrary, has the regards to the object with affection, seek wishes to separate it from suffering. So it’s a mental factor which lacks an intention to do harm, but on the contrary, regards the object with affection and wishes to separate it from suffering is nonharmfulness.
So, obviously, non harmfulness is very much associated with the qualities of love and compassion. This quality of affection wishing to separate sentient beings from suffering. So this mental factor of non harmfulness is simply it’s simply not the lack of intention to harm others. It it is that but something more. There’s a positive factor associated with it, is affection.
That is, not only do we not wish to harm others, but we cannot remain indifferent to them. And that, in fact, we seek to benefit them and do whatever we can to aid them. So it’s a lack of harmful, this harmful intention, but it also has the positive aspect of it, which it does not allow us to remain indifferent, but in actuality, to do whatever, will be of benefit to them. So our mind is very much can be can be compared to, a substance like water in the fact that it can take on whatever substance, whatever we might put in the water. If we put something sweet in the water, then we have sweet water.
If we put medicine in the water, then we have medicinal water. If we put medicine water, and that water is not harmful, but in fact, it’s if we drink it, it’s beneficial. So it’s just, if we were to, you know, just like, fruit juice, you know, if we it’s water which, you in which there’s various nutritional elements. It’s very delicious tasting. So if we drink this fruit juice, then it’s going to prevent us from getting sick.
It’s going to, we’re going to have a good health. It’s going to, enjoy it. It makes us happy. And so it has all these, just by putting all these in water, then it has all these beneficial policies. Likewise, our mind is compared to this water with this neutral substance, whatever we put in our mind, we will experience have an according experience if we if we develop and associate our mind with positive mental