Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. Khensur Rinpoche opens this 45-minute session with an unusual moment: unpacking Dharmakīrti’s claim that he composed his great commentary on valid cognition purely for himself — explaining it as deliberate reverse psychology designed to identify students with genuine motivation and wisdom. Rinpoche then surveys the Geshe curriculum, arguing that the study of pramāna is especially valuable because its rigorous reasoning resembles scientific method. The main instruction turns to the second topic in the Close Placements of Mindfulness series: manners of meditation. He walks through preparatory practices, correct posture, and how to contemplate the four objects — body, feelings, mind, and phenomena — through specific and general characteristics, concluding with the Four Seals: all conditioned things are impermanent, all contaminated experience is suffering, all phenomena are empty and selfless, and nirvana is peace.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 05 CP of M 1997 06 08.mp3
UUID: 46bce834-0397-4b1f-ba05-4863900ed20a
Teacher: Khensur Rinpoche
Collection: Close Placements of Mindfulness (Khensur Rinpoche)
Date: 1997-06-08
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 45.5 minutes
Words: ~2,661
We’ll begin by adjusting our motivation, developing as our motivation the awakened heart and meditating on that for a few minutes. So just to think about: the self wishes happiness and does not wish to suffer. Likewise, all sentient beings are the same in wishing happiness and not wanting to suffer. Now we have this wonderful human life endowed with wisdom, by means of which we can practice the Dharma. We know how to eliminate suffering.
We know how to achieve happiness. With our wisdom we can know the causes of suffering and how to eliminate, bring about the cessation of those causes. With our great wisdom we can understand what are the causes of suffering and practice the means to eliminate those causes of suffering. We know what to adopt and what to reject and this represents a wonderful opportunity for ourselves. Others are limitless as to the extent of space.
But among those there are very few who know suffering as suffering, or know what is actually happiness. Not knowing suffering as suffering, they do not know how to abandon the causes of suffering, and not identifying happiness — what is true happiness — as happiness, they do not know how to cultivate true happiness.
So, these beings who do not know how to practice, not knowing the causes of happiness, not understanding what are the causes of suffering. On the contrary, rather than cultivating the causes of happiness, they cultivate the causes of suffering, thereby accumulating in this unknowing way — bringing about and accumulating the causes of further suffering within cyclic existence, not creating causes which will lead them to be liberated from cyclic existence. So, over the course of past lives we have developed a relationship with all living beings, a very extremely intimate relationship, that of a mother and child. And we have related in that way in the past and we will continue to relate with others in that way in future lives. And over the course of these relationships, they have shown us tremendous kindness.
So, it’s necessary that we cultivate a love and compassion for these sentient beings. Beginning with compassion expressed in the thought, may all sentient beings be free of suffering and the causes of suffering. And love expressed in the thought, may all sentient beings have happiness and the causes of happiness. But merely that wish is not sufficient — merely to wish others to be free of suffering and to have happiness. Why is that?
We have to go on and develop the intense resolve which determines that I will lead them to such a state. I will lead them to complete happiness. I will lead them to a state free from suffering. And why is that? Because each of ourselves has attained this precious human life.
And within this life, we have met with the Dharma. And within having met the Dharma, we know how to practice. Therefore, resolving that I alone by myself will lead all sentient beings to a state where they are free of suffering, where they experience complete happiness — it is necessary that we develop this intense resolve. But this attitude of intense resolve, that is to say that I will lead them to such a state of freedom from suffering, that I will lead them to a complete state of happiness — at this level is merely a kindhearted attitude.
Because if we examine whether in fact we can do that or not, we will see that at best we could only lead a limited number, a very few sentient beings to such a state. That as long as we have various afflictions in our mind, as long as we have not cultivated to their fulfillment all our excellent qualities, we will be limited in how we can benefit others. So it’s necessary that, if we are going to lead numberless living beings, we have the ability to do that. In fact, if we can achieve a state of having eliminated all our various faults and brought to consummation all our excellent qualities, then we will be able to emanate innumerable emanations of ourselves, each of which will be able to lead sentient beings to such a state. Therefore, for the sake of all sentient beings, in order to lead them to such a state, I myself must remove all my various faults and bring to consummation all my excellent qualities.
That is to say, I must achieve the precious state of Buddhahood for the sake of all sentient beings. And therefore, determining, coming to the conclusion within your own mind that I will indeed achieve that state for the sake of all sentient beings. So we have to ask the question, well, can I do this or not? Can I achieve this end or not? And in fact, we can, that we can emulate — just as Śākyamūni Buddha achieved Buddhahood, we likewise can achieve Buddhahood.
Just emulating his deeds over hundreds of lifetimes, and then finally, the unfoldment or display of his enlightenment in India where he was able to be of immense benefit, leading numberless sentient beings to a state of liberation and omniscience. Likewise, we can do the same. And then for that end, I’m going to listen to this teaching on the universal vehicle. Having listened to it, to reflect and finally meditate upon it in order to bring about the welfare of myself and all others, just as Śākyamūni Buddha himself did. Thus I have heard: once the Blessed One was dwelling in Rajgriha at Vulture’s Peak, together with a great assembly of monks and bodhisattvas.
At that time, the noble Avalokiteśvara, the bodhisattva and mahasattva, was looking at the profound practice of the wisdom gone beyond and saw it like this, analyzing it with effort: form is empty, emptiness is form. Emptiness is no other than form, form no other than emptiness.
In the same way, feeling, recognition, karmic formations, and consciousness are all empty. Therefore, O Śāriputra, all phenomena are empty, without characteristics. They are unborn and unceasing. They are neither impure nor free from impurity. They neither decrease nor increase.
Therefore, O Śāriputra, in emptiness there is no form, no feeling, no recognition, no karmic formations, no consciousness. There is no eye, no ear, no nose, no tongue, no body, no mind. There are no sense spheres of the mind. There is no ignorance nor is there cessation of ignorance, and so on all the way up to it.
There is no old age and death nor is there cessation of old age and death. Thus, no suffering, no origin, no cessation, no path. There is no wisdom, no attainment, and no non-attainment. Therefore, O Śāriputra, because there is no attainment, all bodhisattvas hold to the wisdom gone beyond. And because there is no obscuration of mind, they have no fear.
Passing utterly beyond error, they reach beyond the bounds of sorrow. All the Buddhas who dwell in the three times, relying on the wisdom gone beyond, fully and clearly awaken to unsurpassed, most perfect and complete enlightenment. Therefore, the mantra of the wisdom gone beyond, the mantra of great insight, the unequaled and unsurpassed mantra, the mantra that calms all suffering, should be known as truth, for there is no deception. The mantra of the wisdom gone beyond is proclaimed: tadyatha gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi svaha. O Śāriputra, this is how a bodhisattva mahasattva should learn the profound wisdom gone beyond.
Then the Blessed One arose from that concentration and praised the noble Avalokiteśvara, the bodhisattva and mahasattva, saying, very good, very good, O son of good family. It is exactly like that. The profound wisdom gone beyond should be practiced exactly as you have said. And then the Tathagatas will rejoice. When the Blessed One had said this, the noble Śāriputra, the noble Avalokiteśvara, the whole gathering in the world with its gods, men, demi-gods, and spirits, their hearts full of joy, praised the words of the Blessed One.
So ends the noble discourse on the essence of the wisdom gone beyond. He quoted a verse from — according to a verse from the Commentary on Prime Cognition. And then he went on to say that for those who become a Geshe, their course of study begins with first a text which is like taking a condensation of some of the essential topics of Dharmakīrti’s text, which is called Collected Topics or Dudra. And then they go on to study the Perfection of Wisdom, Prajñāpāramitā. Then they go on to study the middle way, and then the text on moral discipline, and then the Treasury of Knowledge.
The Perfection of Wisdom is contained within the teachings on the graduated path, the Lamrim, and the teachings on mind training. And so those teachings have a portion of the practice of the Perfection of Wisdom. And there is also the study of the middle way. But there is very little study of, for example, moral discipline, or also higher knowledge in terms of Abhidharma, and also very little in the study of pramāna or valid cognition. So, it is really excellent to study valid cognition — pramāna — because it makes extensive use of the processes of reasoning, examining reasoning and what constitutes a valid cognition. It is very much in accord with scientific method, that we can take both the Buddhist presentation and the secular presentations of the nature of reality in the world and examine it and establish it through a process of reasoning.
And so it’s extremely useful. So, previously, at the time when the Buddha taught the Dharma in India to his disciples, they relied very much simply on the words of the Buddha: that he would transmit and communicate his teaching to them and simply on the basis of belief they would accept it. There was no systematic examination in terms of reasoning. It was later on, through the teachings of Nāgārjuna and Dharmakīrti, that they developed a system whereby to examine the teachings in the light of reasoned analysis and as a means of accepting them. So, in his opening verses to Pramānavārttika, which is a commentary to Dignāgā’s Companion of Prime Cognition, Dharmakīrti says that most ordinary beings do not know right from wrong.
They have not developed in their wisdom. And not only that, they do not seek to understand the meaning of the text and they develop jealousy toward those who do. I have not, therefore — I have not composed this commentary for the benefit of others, but only for my own sake in terms of my own practice and meditation in order to gain realization. Some people would question, well, isn’t Dharmakīrti a bodhisattva? So this opening verse raises that doubt for them since a bodhisattva is someone who works for the benefit of others, and Dharmakīrti says that he composed this text not for the benefit of others, but for his own sake.
And then, is Dharmakīrti a bodhisattva or not? But if we were to take what Dharmakīrti literally says, then it would appear that he composed this text not to benefit others, but this is not the meaning which is intended. It is just that Dharmakīrti was extremely skilled in the use of words and he was using reverse psychology in this context. What he was addressing himself to were those who do involve themselves in skillful conduct, who do know the difference between right and wrong, those who have developed in their wisdom and those who are striving to understand the meaning of the text and who rejoice in others who also are striving to understand the text. For them, this text will be of extremely great benefit.
So, the composition of this text was not for the sake of all that was listed before — those who involve themselves in unskillful acts, who have developed little in their wisdom, who do not seek the meanings of the text, who actually are jealous of those who do — for them this text would be of no great value. But for those on the contrary who involve themselves in the skillful ways of acting, who have developed their wisdom, who are trying to understand these texts and rejoice in those who do — for such individuals, then this text would be of great value. So for you all, I think that this Compendium of Prime Cognition would be extremely valuable. Why is that? Because you all are those who are trying to enact skillful ways of doing.
You are developing your wisdom, you are making effort and trying to understand the meanings of these various texts, and you take great joy in those who are also making effort. So, therefore, I think you are all appropriate students for this Companion of Prime Cognition. Very good. So I have great hope for all of you — that you people have a lot of activities, you have a lot of work that you do, but you’ve set that aside for the sake of the Dharma, that you’re making effort with regard to the Dharma and that you involve yourself in skillful activities.
And I think through this that in the future, in the not too distant future, that you will achieve liberation. So, I think all of you are unlike most of the people in the rest of the world — you are people who are tremendously precious and important. So, the words that I’ve just spoken, what I’ve said — I don’t say them just to be talking. I mean what I have said, and you should rejoice and take joy in what you’re doing and continue with your effort in terms of practicing Dharma in your practice of meditation. So, with regard to the text, we said that there were eight parts and that we finished the first part, which was objects of observation.
And now the second part is manners of meditation. So, with regard to manners of meditation, there are two: common and uncommon. And what is meant here by the common manner of meditation is that which is not exclusive to Bodhisattvas. So, beginning with the common manner of meditation. First, we involve ourselves in the preparatory practices, paying homage, making offerings, and so forth.
So, preparing ourselves for the actual meditation session. Then, in the actual meditation session itself, we take a correct bodily posture and then we go on to contemplate the four objects of observation: bodies, feelings, minds, and phenomena. But it’s not necessary that we meditate on all four in the same session. We can take them in a serial manner, meditating first on bodies, and so forth. And then gradually, we can get to the place where we can meditate on all four.
So, each of these has specific and general characteristics, which we are to analyze — each of these objects of mindfulness — in terms of. So, how are we to proceed in our meditation? This is mentioned in a quotation from the Treasury of Knowledge where it says: by thoroughly examining the two characteristics of the body, feelings, minds, and phenomena, one should meditate the close placements of mindfulness. So we examine each of these objects of observation — bodies and so forth — in terms of these two characteristics, the specific and general characteristics. So proceeding in terms of the general characteristics.
First, take as an object of observation the body and we meditate on it in terms of the general characteristics — that is to say, the body as impermanent, as suffering, as empty, as selfless. So these general characteristics are embodied in what is called the Four Seals testifying to a Buddhist doctrine. That is to say, all that is compounded is impermanent. All that is contaminated is in the nature of suffering. All phenomena are empty and selfless, and nirvana is peace.