Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. A Kadampa master’s question — where does spring grass grow best, on a mountaintop or in a valley? — closes this 51-minute session and captures its subject: how pride blocks the growth of good qualities. Khensur Rinpoche begins by defining afflictive emotions as mental factors that disturb a peaceful mind “like a violent wind,” then works through the first three of six principal afflictive emotions in sequence. Desire superimposes exaggerated qualities on objects and can escalate from craving to theft or worse. Anger uniquely destroys past positive karma as well as generating new negative karma. Pride, rooted in an inflated sense of self, is illustrated through analogies of water running off an egg, a butter-lamp wick, and a needle. Part of a systematic course in Buddhist mind science.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 30 AK 1989-03-02.mp3
UUID: c615cee6-34df-4a95-81dc-7ddb4ab294cf
Teacher: Khensur Rinpoche
Collection: Awareness and Knowledge 1988-1989 (Khensur Rinpoche)
Date: 1989-03-02
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 51.5 minutes
Words: ~2,352
So initially, we have to adjust our motivation to develop a kind heart, which is the thought to practice in in order to bring about our, perfect practice that was necessary to listen to the teachings on the great vehicle, whereby to bring about our own Buddhahood and as a means to establish all sentient beings equal in space and peace and bliss. So last teaching that we completed the eleven constructive states or the eleven virtuous mental factors. And this week, we’re going to begin with the afflictive emotions. There are two two types. There are the principal afflictive emotions and the secondary or proximate afflictive mental factors.
There are six principal afflictive mental factors and twenty secondary afflictive mental factors. So what do we mean by afflictive emotion or afflictive mental factors? Afflictive mental factors — between the division of consciousness into minds and mental factors, the afflictive emotions are mental factors. They’re minds and mental factors. Mental factors accompany minds.
They accompany or they are associated with minds. Now, it’s the the factor of afflictive mental factors cause the that a mind which is has been abiding in a positive or neutral state to become unpeaceful and cause it to, not to be able to be happy. It is as if it’s a violent wind which disturbs the peace of the mind. So therefore, when we say an afflictive emotion, we’re talking about a mental factor which has the function, the activity of causing a mind, which is either abiding in a positive or neutral state to become un unpeaceful and not to be able to to remain in happiness. So the mind which was previously abiding in either in a relaxed state, either in a positive or neutral state, is caused by the development of this mental factor of afflicting emotion to become unpeaceful, to become, unhappy.
And it’s as if it’s being stirred up by a great wind. It’s, it’s becomes agitated. So the first of the six principle, afflictive mental factors is desire. And the function and desire is that which has the function of Now, there are two types of things in general, contaminated things and uncontaminated things. So, in this case, desire has the function of when it when it takes as object of observation a contaminated thing, it superimposes an exaggerated quality.
It it super it it superimposes exaggerated qualities onto that object and seeks to remain with that object and not to be separated. And that’s the that would which performs that function is the afflicting emotion of desire. So it’s it’s very difficult to separate out desire from the mind. It’s as if we have spilled some kind of grease or oil on our clothing. And initially, even though we tried to wash it, the initial washing isn’t able to remove the grease completely.
It’s going to require, many additional washings, and likewise with the the afflictive emotion of desire in in separate separating or purifying out out of our mind. So when we when we think, when we see something that we, that we find very pleasurable, that we we superimpose an exaggerated quality upon that object and developing the afflictive emotion of desire. Having done that, we again and again think of the object. We remember how good it was, and thinking again and again about the object, how beautiful it was, how desirable it was, this quality that it possesses, we develop a, we’re not we remember the object again and again, and we aren’t able the mind is not able to remain in a relaxed state. It’s it’s we’re not able to stay quietly.
You know, we, we, as if we have lost control and we, and not being, then we are forced, under, outside of our own power to, exert ourselves in some method to gain that object. So in such a state that it’s possible by again and again developing, thinking about the object recalling to mind again and again that we we reached the place where that we have to make some kind of, effort toward attaining that object. We’re not able to rest without getting that object. We have to have it. And even in such a situation where we can’t we aren’t able to get it, and through honest means, that due to the intensity of our desire, that we’re quite willing to steal it, to order someone else to steal it, or use other various means of trickery, that we’re willing to put ourselves through our minds and bodies through a great deal of difficulty, simply to satisfy this affliction of desire.
And this force of desire can even go increase to the to the state where if someone stands on our way of us getting that object of our desire, we’re quite willing to kill him or her. So desire functions so as to. So it has the function acting as the foundation for all destructive states of consciousness. So the second of the six principal afflictive mental factors is anger. So anger is upon is the the mental factor which upon observing one of upon observing either a sentient being or suffering itself within one’s own continuum or a source of suffering that which is either a sentient being or not has the intention to bring harm or hurt that object.
So, the afflictive emotion which upon, which afflictive emotion, which has the, has the intention, what did I say the first time? As the, afflictive emotion, which upon observing an object, either a sentient being, a a suffering itself within our own continuum, or a source of suffering, whether that source is a sentient being or not, has the intention to harm or hurt that object. So when we take object take as our object sentient beings, it can be in such a situation where someone hurts us, where someone is, we we conceive of someone as hurting us, someone is saying bad things about us, someone acting as an obstacle to, gaining an end we seek. So upon being, experiencing some kind of physical or mental suffering, we we we can, develop anger toward that suffering that we’re experiencing itself. At the very suffering itself, we can we can develop anger towards that.
And also at the we can develop anger at the sources of suffering. For this can be either people and that, or sentient beings that they can act as conditioned, which whereby they, we experience suffering, and therefore they’re sources of, seen as sources of suffering. But also at non-sentient things which act as a source such as, you know, we hear bad words and we get angry at the words themselves, or we get angry at weapons, things of these kinds of things which we see as bringing us harm. We can get angry at non-sentient things. So due to the the force of predispositions or latencies of anger, which act as a cause, That’s even though, even at those times when we’re sitting quietly in a relaxed manner, perhaps we’re engaged in some kind of spiritual activity, perhaps we’re meditating very quietly, peacefully, that if someone at such a time were to speak some harsh words to us, then due to this cause of our own predispositions, our habituation to anger previously that these harsh words can act as a condition and these two together, this coming together of causes and condition, the mind as if automatically, develops anger outside seemingly outside of our control.
It’s beyond our power. It’s as if the churning action of boiling water, you know, keeps bubbling up and anger is just as if bubbles up out of our mind, completely destroying our happiness and peace of mind. So in such a situation, if we are not able to act, to practice patience, then we’re going to return harm for harm. We’re going to, you know, we’re going to, in in doing that, in seeking to hurt that other person, we’re going to create a great deal of, negative actions, negative karma. So it says that there’s no negativity like anger.
Even though amongst all the various afflictive emotions that they’re by their very nature, they’re negative in states of mind, that through them we we create destructive actions. But with respect to anger, it’s especially so because all the all the the general quality of all the afflictive emotions is that we create negative karma through developing them. But with respect to anger, we not only create negative karma, but we also destroy past constructive karma that we’ve created. So it has a two fold negative effect, creating negative karma and destroying positive karma that we’ve created in the past. The constructive karma that we’ve accumulated over a long time becomes only a short time.
That which had a great power becomes only very limited small power. And therefore, it has this two fold negative effect. So, it’s one of the greatest types of faults that we can allow to arise within our mind. Anger, it you know, if we were to develop anger in in in response to, for example, some harsh words, and we were to answer back in kind, such types of action really does not harm the other person. That anger the the fact of anger doesn’t actually hurt anyone except yourself.
That it’s, and therefore, it’s extremely, a great fault, a very unskillful state to engage in. So anger is extremely destructive force in our life. We allow it to get out of control and overwhelm us, then we’re quite willing to engage in negative types of actions against even those who we hold usually hold very close to us, who we hold very dear, our relatives, perhaps our husband, our wife, and even our spiritual teacher. And therefore, it it sort of overpowers us and forces us to do extremely great negative actions. So, it has the function of acting as a source of all of faults, is true of all afflictive emotions in general.
A source of all faults. So then the third principal afflictive mental factor is pride. And pride with respect to pride, there’s a great there’s a there’s an inflated feeling of I. There’s this grasping at an inflated or puffed up I, I, I. This is based upon the, initially, the transitory view of the collection apprehending I. The transitory view of the collection apprehending I, and dependence upon that, there is inflation of the I thinking that that in some way that I am supreme above above all.
It could be with respect to any quality. For example, that I am the greatest scholar, I am the most handsome, I have the most beautiful voice. That there’s an inflation or a blowing up of the sense of I. So it has this it’s the this it is this quality of an inflated, puffed up sense of self with respect to others. It has as its root, as does all the afflictive emotions, the view of the transitory collection.
The view of the transitory collection is the root of all the afflictive emotions. Taking this as root, there’s the taking the eye and inflating it, thinking that one is supreme in comparison to others, that one has the great qualities, that one has great wisdom, I have from some kind of greatest family. It exaggerates whatever quality that one may possess puffs it up with associating it with the eye. So pride can take either of the three levels of comparison with three levels of comparative people. For those who may be lower in some qualities to us, as if we have, we did, they don’t even exist for us.
We do not have the slightest caring for them in any way. Those who might be equal to us, we deflate what qualities they may have, and we hold them in low regard. And those who might be higher in some respect, with respect to some quality, then we, even though this might be the case, we are unable to, in any way, acknowledge and respect their, this significant higher quality that these others may have. It’s a it’s a matter of it has a quality of a lack of a lack of positive regard for others. So due to the force of our pride, we are no So, pride has the function of not allowing, any, excellent qualities to develop.
It’s as if, which is using some analogies, can’t think of a better analogy, you know, they use analogy of if you drop water on an egg, the water So the idea behind this analogy is that different possibilities. One was dropping water on an egg. When the water doesn’t stay on the egg, it immediately runs off. And likewise, on a butter lamp, the wick, before it’s lit, but just the butter lamp because if you drop put a drop of water on it, it won’t it won’t soak in due to the the, the butter of the wick. It doesn’t it’s not able to soak into the wick.
And likewise, if you put water on the end of a needle, it won’t stay there, it’ll run off. So the idea is that due to the quality of pride, that no matter how much we may associate with excellent qualities, that whatever they might be, it’s as if, we would say, water running off a duck’s back due to the force of function of pride. So these are some analogies that make it help us understand the quality, the function of pride. If I if I understand Yes. So there is a question it’s it’s a it’s quotation from a one Kadampa master and he said in the springtime when the rains come where does the best grass grow first?
Does it grow in the highest part of the mountain or down in the valley? Where does the best new spring grass grow? Does it grow on the highest in the high in the heights of the mountain or down in the valley?