Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. Using the image of medicinal versus poisonous plant roots, Khensur Rinpoche opens this 59-minute session by grounding a mindfulness-of-breathing meditation in the teaching that motivation determines the quality of all experience. He then quotes Je Tsongkhapa’s verse on the three principal aspects of the path — renunciation, the awakening heart, and the correct view of emptiness — explaining why wisdom realizing emptiness is indispensable: the first two alone cannot eliminate suffering at its root. The session builds toward a guided meditation on the emptiness of the I, using dependent arising — illustrated through seed-and-sprout examples and the twelve links of dependent origination — as the supreme logical proof that nothing, including the self, exists independently. Suited to practitioners with some Lamrim background.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 10 GM 1992 08 16 Emptiness Meditation.mp3
UUID: 81c4f4e2-759d-422e-be56-2470e97906fb
Teacher: Khensur Rinpoche
Collection: Guided Meditations 1988-1992 (Khensur Rinpoche)
Date: 1992-08-16
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 58.8 minutes
Words: ~2,715
We’re going to meditate mindfulness of breathing for twenty minutes. Results of our various activity are determined by the motivation which precipitates them. Depending upon the motivation, we will achieve an accordant type of result. If our motivation is a kind hearted attitude, that is to say a positive attitude, then out of that will arise a positive result. On the other hand, if our motivation is negative for whatever activity it might be, then as a result, the resultant experience will be negative.
If on the third hand, if the motivation is not a negative nor positive, that is neutral, then the result will be neutral. By way of analogy, if the roots of the plant are of a medicinal variety, if the roots of a plant are of medicinal variety, then that which comes from those roots, the leaves and the stems, etc, will have medicinal properties. On the other hand, if the roots of the plant are of a poisonous variety, then all of that which arises from the roots, again, the leaves and the stems will have poisonous properties. And then on the third possibility, if the roots of the plant are of a neutral neither poisonous nor medicinal, then that which arises will be of a neutral quality. So this extends to external phenomena but in terms of our internal world, the root of the quality of our experience is the mind itself out of our way of thinking.
If it is positive or negative, then it will have just as in the case of the medicinal and poisonous plants, the leaves and stems were of the same nature. Actions of our body and speech will be of the same nature. So we have to consider the necessity to maintain our mind in a healthy state, a positive state. And what do we mean by a healthy state of mind, a positive state? Such types of mind’s attitudes as altruism, love, compassion, and the awakening heart.
On the other hand, various negative activities, negative states would be, for example, anger, pride, misknowledge or ignorance, jealousy, miserliness. So we will meditate mindfulness of breathing but in a manner of a healthy state of mind. So we should seek to develop as our motivation in the context of meditating on mindfulness of breathing. The attitude of wishing to bring happiness to both ourselves and all sentient beings. And thinking how wonderful it would be if all sentient beings had happiness on the one hand and thinking how wonderful if ourselves and all sentient beings, living beings, were free from their suffering on the other and developing this as the motivation for your meditation.
And then within the context of your motivation, imagining that all of your difficulties, all of your problems, your sufferings, dissatisfaction, diseases, problems go out in the form of black smoke disappearing in the distance. And on the inhalation, imagining that all that sense of well-being, that peace and bliss come in the form of a white light coming into yourself and developing a sense of well-being within your mind. And from that will arise a sense of physical well-being and thereby a positive result. So please meditate in that manner. Verse number three.
Would you like to stand up and stretch? Okay. Verse number five. Quoting from a verse by Je Tsongkhapa, where he points out that whosoever the living being might be, none want to experience the results of suffering.
In fact, they all want happiness. It’s the same for whoever it might be. And there are a variety of causes for bringing about the desired happiness that we’re seeking. And additionally, there are a variety of causes whereby to eliminate the suffering that we do not wish. But if we were to abbreviate those causes, the medicine which alleviates the afflictions of all the various types of suffering and that which brings about all happiness, that is to say, a complete, unchanging, stable happiness can be condensed into three causes.
So these three main causes are the three fundamentals of the path or three principal aspects of the path. And these are the determination to be free, that is to say renunciation, the awakening heart, bodhicitta, and the correct view of emptiness. And what do we mean by renunciation? We mean a non attachment to externals such as food, clothing, but also non attachment to internal factors such as one’s own body. So, there are many objects of our attachments.
There is our own body and speech. There are the bodies and speech of others. There are the various possessions external to ourselves. And under their influence, we experience many types of suffering due to the force of our attachment. Therefore, a renunciation consists of the decreasing of our attachment.
And then the second fundamental was that of the awakening heart. And this is on the minimal basis of non harming others. We additionally seek to bring about the happiness of others, that we seek to benefit them. We seek to eliminate their suffering and to bring them happiness. And it is on the basis of altruism that the awakening heart has developed.
Though these two are extremely important, they must be assisted by the view realizing emptiness. If we only have these two, these previous two, that is renunciation and the awakening heart, they by themselves are unable to eliminate from its very root our suffering. So it’s very necessary if we’re going to eliminate suffering from its very foundation to develop the wisdom realizing emptiness. How are we going to realize emptiness? It is by means of establishing emptiness through lines of reasoning that we have to actually contemplate and consider that which we are trying to establish, that is emptiness, and we establish it through the method of making use of many types of reasoning.
This is the way that we can come to an understanding of emptiness. Without understanding the proofs establishing emptiness, there’s no way to understand that which is seeking to be proven. That is the emptiness itself. So, without understanding the proofs, we cannot understand that which is to be proven. If we were building a house, it’s necessary to bring together all the various causes and conditions, all the various materials necessary to bring that house into existence.
And likewise, if we want to realize emptiness, we have to bring together all the various causes and conditions which bring about the understanding of emptiness. And these are the various reasons, the various proofs which establish emptiness. So, analogy would be in the case if we want to prepare some delicious food, it’s necessary to have all the various causes and conditions, all the necessary ingredients. And additionally, one must be an expert cook, have a good recipe to follow. If one doesn’t have the proper ingredients, the proper causes and conditions or one doesn’t know the recipe then you’re not going to end up with delicious food.
So just as in the case if we’re preparing some delicious food by having all the various proper ingredients, that is to say the necessary cause and conditions, and being an expert in the way of cooking, then you can prepare an excellent meal. Likewise, with coming to an understanding of emptiness, it’s necessary that we have all the necessary ingredients. Emptiness is extremely profound and is not easily understood. So we have to bring together all the necessary ingredients and be able to think and consider it in a conducive manner, understanding how to consider once the ingredients are brought together, able to reflect upon them well. Then we’re going to be able to get the result. So the ingredients that we’re gathering together to bring about this delicious meal, the realization of emptiness, is dependent arising.
The Buddha said, and along with Je Tsongkhapa, that the reasoning of dependent arising is the supreme proof for bringing about an understanding of emptiness, for establishing an understanding of emptiness. So we use dependent arising, or that is to say relativity, as the main method for establishing that which is to be proven, that is to say, emptiness. So we can understand by analogy the relativity of external phenomena, and we can understand the relativity of internal phenomena. By understanding certain external relativities, which are more easily understood, we can come to an understanding of the more difficult internal relativities. And by relativities, I mean dependently related events such as: from fire, smoke arises.
From a seed, a sprout grows. So all the external phenomena require that they depend upon a cause to bring themselves into existence. In dependence upon a cause, they come into existence so they are all related to their causes. They exist relatively. And if we take these easy examples as a means of understanding, this can serve as a method for understanding more difficult examples of relativity.
For example, a sprout grows in dependence upon a seed. So everything depends upon something that exists relative to something else. And what does the sprout depend upon? It depends upon the seed. What does the seed depend upon for its sprouting?
It depends upon the coming together of various conditions such as water, soil, etc. So the sprout depends upon the seed. It depends upon the water, the soil. If these aren’t there, then no sprout can grow. But once all these various causes and conditions come then the sprout grows.
That the entity of the sprout depends for its existence on its various causes. So, these are quite easily understood. They’re quite evident. We can see these easily with our own eyes — we can directly understand. We don’t have to think a great deal using various reasons to understand these.
But we can extend this same process to all phenomena whatsoever. That just as in the case of the sprout, all phenomena necessary the existence of all phenomena necessarily depends upon the causes and conditions. So, now, if we turn to the inner phenomena of the living being itself, the living being is dependent upon the two factors of body and mind. And in turn, these two individually, for example, the body is dependent upon the aggregation of various causes and conditions. And likewise, the mind is dependent upon the coming together of various causes and conditions.
Likewise, the living being arises in dependence upon body and mind, which in turn arises dependent upon various causes and conditions — just like the sprout grows from the seed — likewise, through the coming together of various causes and conditions, the living being comes into existence. So initially when the Buddha began his teachings in India, he taught the truths of true sufferings and true sources. And in teaching these, he pointed to the body and mind as being the body as being the true suffering and the mind being true sources of suffering. And this was in abbreviated fashion, to show where our suffering comes from, that it comes from cause and condition. And he went on to expand the nature of our situation in terms of the twelve links of dependent origination.
So these two represent the mechanism due to which we continually circle within cyclic existence on the one hand. But then he went on to explain the means by which liberation is attained. That is to say, we are able to extricate ourselves from this process of cyclic existence. And this was the latter of the Four Noble Truths, the true cessation and true paths. Such paths as and he went on to expand upon this, teaching the thirty seven limbs to enlightenment, the ten grounds and the five paths.
If we would just briefly state all of this in condensed form, whatsoever the phenomena might be, whether it’s external in terms of various external material phenomena or internally, that is the living being themselves, whatsoever it may be, they all arise in dependence upon the aggregation of causes and conditions. That is to say, their existence relies upon causes and conditions. Whatsoever phenomena is related is dependently related to others. Its existence depends upon being related to other phenomena. That it depends upon its relationship to parts, causes and conditions, and terms and concepts.
That no phenomena exist independently. That is in a self contained way. And if this is understood, you know, if we understand that everything exists in relative to something else, we understand it does not exist in a non relative fashion. It does then nothing exists independently or truly exists. When we understand everything depends upon something else for its existence, then this will serve to gain to understanding that nothing exists independently, that everything depends upon parts, upon causes and conditions, upon names and concepts.
That understanding this, then the thought will arise very forcefully. Nothing exists independently in and of itself. Nothing truly exists. If we have a friend, someone we like very much, we see this friend possessing many really wonderful qualities. If we were to begin to try to understand why we have so much liking, why this person is such a good friend, we can begin to list various reasons why this person is such a good person, the way they talk to us and the way they treat us, the various ways they’ve helped us, the way they’ve related to us.
We can go through all kinds of qualities about this person and the way they’ve related and the way they’ve acted toward us to establish why we have such a great feeling for them. Likewise, it’s seen how this quality of how we see this person has arisen in dependence upon various reasonings, various ways of relating, various ways of acting, and all of these qualities there arises this relationship between you. And coming to understand that all phenomena whatsoever are established in a dependent fashion, just like this relationship with this person. By understanding this presentation that likewise all phenomena whatsoever arise dependent upon various parts, upon the causes and conditions, and are such that there is nothing which exists independent of all of these factors, then we can come to a very strong ascertainment that nothing exists independently of these factors. And without this ascertainment, there’s no way that we can come to an understanding of emptiness.
So we’re going to meditate five minutes on emptiness. We’re going to meditate on the I. That is the individual I or the individual self. Now, the way the I appears to us, the way the self appears to us, that it does not depend upon anything other than itself. It doesn’t exist in dependence upon anything other than itself.
It exists independently. But we have to use our various reasons as we’ve been applying to these simple cases where we begin to see that everything arises in dependence upon causes and conditions, upon their parts, upon terms and concepts. In order to realize emptiness, we have to realize that everything is dependently related, that it exists relative to something else. It does not exist unrelated or independently or without relying on something other than itself. If we cannot see this dependent arising nature of the I or the self, then we’re never going to be able to understand its emptiness.
So, we’re taking the I as the basis for coming to an understanding of emptiness. We are seeking to understand that it does not naturally exist, that it does not inherently exist. It does not independently exist. Why? We make use of the reason in order to establish this, in order to prove this, that it exists in dependence upon, its existence relies upon various causes and conditions.
It relies upon parts. It relies upon terms and concepts. We established that it does not inherently exist because it is dependently existent. This is the most difficult part coming to this understanding. So we should contemplate as follows, that taking as the subject the I or the self, it does not inherently exist.
It does not independently exist. Why? Because it is a dependent arising. It relies upon, its existence relies upon causes and conditions, it depends upon parts, it depends upon terms and concepts. The prayer on page ten.
Verses eight and nine.