Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. Using a flower’s reliance on seed, water, and soil as its central image, this 25-minute guided meditation with Khensur Rinpoche moves from motivation-setting into a direct investigation of selflessness. He opens by establishing bodhicitta — the wish to attain Buddhahood for all sentient beings — as the necessary motivation, explaining why such a vast intention generates correspondingly vast positive potential. He then introduces emptiness of self: just as a flower cannot exist without causes and conditions, the I arises only in dependence on the aggregates of body and mind. An independently existing, unchanging self would mean no death — but death itself proves dependence. The session closes with five minutes of silent meditation and a dedication verse.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 03 GM 1989 03 04 Emptiness.mp3
UUID: 8233fb16-a07f-409e-8804-f84d4d96487d
Teacher: Khensur Rinpoche
Collection: Guided Meditations 1988-1992 (Khensur Rinpoche)
Date: 1989-03-04
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 25.5 minutes
Words: ~1,291
Through the method of this method of mindfulness of breathing combined with this visualization practice and trying to bring our mind to a positive state and the best motivation that we can now have is the awakening heart. That is the thought to attain Buddhahood in order to establish all sentient beings in complete happiness. Why do we have to develop such an intention? What is the benefit of developing such an attitude? That with the attitude of seeking to benefit all sentient beings through whatever action that we’re going to engage in, Since sentient beings are innumerable, that they’re numberless, therefore the positive effects, the positive potential that we create with such an attitude are correspondingly beyond measure, beyond number.
Because our intention, because our motivation is extremely vast, it is to include all sentient beings. Therefore the positive effects that accrue to us are extremely vast, are beyond measure as our sentient beings. In fact, this motivation, this intention is simply that it doesn’t affect other sentient beings directly, but it is from our side that as a means of creating the necessary positive potential, the positive energy whereby to create Buddhahood, that we must engage in such a type of contemplation. In order to actually implement our intention that is to separate from suffering all sentient beings, the most The most maximum potential that we can achieve is in the state of Buddhahood. In order to achieve Buddhahood, the actual qualities of a Buddha are immeasurable, are numberless, and therefore it requires immeasurable, innumerable amount of positive potential or positive energy in order to achieve such a state.
So with the thought, the intention to separate sentient beings from their suffering, to bring them happiness, that I myself in order to bring this about, in fact implement this wish in reality, must attain Buddhahood, and therefore developing the determination, resolve, I must attain Buddhahood and through this practice I’m going to use this practice as a means to attain that end, attain Buddhahood in order to help sentient beings to bring them happiness, to separate them from their suffering. Such a type of attitude, such a type of mind is a kind heart and there’s the essence, the basis of all spiritual practice of Dharma is a kind heart and there is no greater kind heart than this awakening heart of seeking Buddhahood for the sake of all sentient beings. So the essence of Buddhadharma, the spiritual practice of Buddhism, is the kind heart. If we can combine such an intention with the meditation on emptiness, combine such a type of motivation with the meditation on emptiness, then this is the limit of the possibility of engaging in the skillful actions of our practice, combination of wisdom and method. So now in the actual method of meditating on the I, or the selflessness, then we have to begin to understand how the I actually exists.
That it exists in dependence upon the aggregates. It exists in reliance upon aggregates. Factors as the mind, our body. We say for example, I am going to this place, I am meditating, I drink tea. We’re making all these statements concerning the I and I is dependent or reliant upon the various factors of body and mind.
So the eye is a dependent arising. It arises in dependence upon many different factors, many different parts. You know the mind, the body, the various aspects of the mind, various parts of the body. There is no I which arises alone in isolation. There is no I which does not rely on some other factor and which does not depend upon something outside of itself.
If we take an example of a flower, that the flower relies on many other factors in order for its existence to come about. That it relies upon the seed, upon water, fertilizer, earth, all these factors, and dependence upon this and relying upon this, then the flower comes into existence. There is no flower which does not rely, depend upon other factors outside of itself. There’s no independently existing flower. So just like that flower that the eye also has to depend upon other things, other factors outside of itself in order for it to come into existence.
It depends on such things as the various elements within the body upon the mind itself. There is no eye which is not relying on something else, which is not dependent for its existence on something else. That such a type of eye, the eye cannot exist from its own side and cut off from any other factors. That such a type of I, we would say, is naturally existent or truly existent. And there is no such a type of I which is not, which is not dependent upon other factors.
There is no I which is truly existent or naturally existent or objectively so when we talk about the I, it must be, it comes into existence in dependence upon many factors, many parts, many things. It comes into in dependence upon aggregates such as feelings, as discrimination as the body, the mind. It’s dependent upon those. The self and the I, these are synonymous terms I and self. When we say that the self, which does not depend upon other things, not exist.
The self, which is independent of anything else, does not exist. This type of self does not exist. This is what we mean by emptiness of self. Emptiness of self is the nonexistence of a self which does not depend upon other things like the aggregates, the feelings. That in fact the I, the self does depend upon other things.
It relies upon other things. The aggregates upon a collection of parts, the I relies upon those. So the I, the self depends upon things, other factors such as the aggregates, the aggregates such as the form aggregate, the feeling aggregate, discrimination, various mental factors within our mind, the consciousness itself. It depends upon those. Now if the, in fact, if the I existed independently of those, then I would be, it would not depend upon anything else.
It would have to be unchanging. It would be permanent. That is, it would be unchanging. But in fact, we can see from our own experience that if, if something, if the eye, the self were unchanging, then there would be no death. And, but in fact, there is death.
People die, they’re born, they die, they’re reborn, they die, they’re reborn. There’s a constantly changing of the self of the eye. And this shows that the eye is not independently existing, that it is not unchanging. It depends upon things other than itself, upon other changing factors. When we talk about the self or the I, which is non dependent, you know, which does not depend, the non existence of that type of self, which doesn’t depend upon anything else, is the meaning of emptiness.
The non existence of an independent self is emptiness. In fact, the I does depend upon other things. The self does depend upon other things and that type of self which does not depend, we are empty of that. It doesn’t exist. And then we’re going to, we’re going to meditate on that for five minutes.
The dependence, the dependent nature of the eye and the fact that the eye cannot exist independently. And then meditation is finished, then we’ll dedicate positive potential that we created. Through these merits may I soon attain the enlightened state of Guru Buddha, and may I lead every migrating being without exception to that state. May the precious bodhicitta, not yet born, arise and grow. May that born have no decline, but increase forevermore.