Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. The surprising claim that gold is precious because Buddha Śākyamūni’s body resembles it — and that brass will surpass gold when Maitreya appears — arrives midway through Khensur Rinpoche’s 49-minute Insight Retreat session. He opens with the three qualities of mindfulness: it operates only on familiar objects, holds them without forgetting, and keeps the mind from straying, illustrated by the image of a wild elephant tied to a post by a rope. A Q&A section then covers karma’s two types, how afflictive emotions drive unskillful action, and the distinction between a human life being contaminated by its causes and precious by its capacity for Dharma practice. The four perfect abandonments are introduced at the close.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 10 IR 1990-10-07.mp3
UUID: e0508f3d-34cb-4251-acdf-1a345edecec2
Teacher: Khensur Rinpoche
Collection: Insight Retreat (Khensur Rinpoche)
Date: 1990-10-07
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 49.0 minutes
Words: ~2,407
So it is as we’ve explained previously, if we take an example of the closed establishments with respect to the body, that we examine the body with wisdom, trying to see whether it’s impermanent or not, that is to say whether it is momentarily being produced and disintegrating. Having examined with our wisdom and coming to understand that it is in fact impermanent, not we then do not allow that wisdom to simply degenerate it. If if we didn’t if we went no further, then that that understanding would be lost. So, you know, we all had this experience where we are in some way training our mind, and we’re reading a book. And in reading the book, we understand a great deal about what’s being said.
But if we simply close the book and set it aside without going any further, then the next day we think, What was it I understood yesterday? That wisdom understanding has been lost. So what is the method for for not forgetting? It is recalling again and again to the mind. So there’s non forgetfulness, which is the the the recalling again and again to the mind is the factor which does this as mindfulness.
So if if we were to understand today, for example, the impermanence of an object and that we were to recall it again and again, recollect it, then tomorrow we would be able to recall it with much more force. We would have developed the ability of our recollection. And then recalling it tomorrow in that way, again and bringing it again and again to the mind, the day after tomorrow, our ability to recollect it would be that much more forceful. We would have that much more recollection, our mindfulness of impermanence because our capacity of mindfulness is increasing in strength. The nature of mind or one of its characteristics is that it is able to increase in its capacity or potency.
And then finally, this this mindfulness can can is able to be transformed into a path. For example, a path of accumulation in which there will this mindfulness will not will never again degenerate. So in, you know, the mindfulness is extremely important, whether in the secular area or the nonsecular, whether simply in our practice of Dharma or whether it’s just our various worldly studies. We have to have mindfulness. Of the reasons that it’s extremely great fault if we are seeking to train our mind in some area and we simply we apply ourselves and then we lose whatever gain we may have made through the fault of the lack of mindfulness.
And when we were explaining the manner of meditating calm abiding, we explained the manner cultivation of mindfulness and the benefits of mindfulness. So what is mindfulness? Between the two minds and mental factors, it is a mental factor. And it has three qualities. So these three qualities of mindfulness is that it is able to its function is to to cause non forgetfulness of an object of which there is familiarity.
Cause to cause non forgetfulness and non distraction from from an object of which there is familiarity. Non distraction, non forgetfulness with an object of familiarity. So the the first quality of mindfulness is that it can only be generated with respect to an object with which we have familiarity with. That is to say, an object which we have previously known or understood. We cannot develop mindfulness with respect to an object that we are not familiar with or that we do not know or understand.
It must be an object which we have understand that we have knowledge of what we have we have familiarity with. First quality is that it, it, it engages an object in which there is a, which has been previously understood. And then it holds that object. That is to say, it does not allow object to be forgotten. And and thirdly, the since the mindfulness is a mental factor, it is always accompanied with a primary mind.
And performs the function of not allowing the mind to stray to another object, but causing the mind to abide on on the object, which is being which has been understood and which is being held. This is its function. For example, if we had we are mindful of the impermanence of the body, then mindfulness would not allow the the accompanying mind to stray to other objects other than impermanence. It would not allow the mind to be uncontrolled. The mind would have to remain on impermanence and not go to become involved in any other object or any other type of mental other mental factors such as the afflictive emotions, etcetera.
So analogy that was used previously in in the teaching on calm abiding was that the the the the fault of there was the elephant, which was which was and we tied the elephant to a large post by means of a rope in order that the elephant not stray. If there if we didn’t if there if there wasn’t the rope, then in in in a just in a moment’s time, the the elephant would run off. So our our mind at present has this fault of being like a wild elephant. It won’t stay still for a moment. So in this analogy, if we were meditating on, for example, the impermanence of body, then impermanence of body would be like the post, which which we’re tying the rope to.
So in the case where we meditate in the four close establishments of mindfulness, of the impermanence of body. As was mentioned, impermanence of body would be like the post. And the mind is bound to that object of the impermanence of body by means of the rope. And the rope is mindfulness, is analogous to mindfulness. And in such a situation, the elephant is not free to roam where it wishes.
It must stay bound to that object. And this the factor which binds the mind to the object is the rope of mindfulness. So, you know, the mindfulness is extremely beneficial. I was just asking why they were close. So it’s just that what has been understood by wisdom is closely held by mindfulness.
The word close. So rather than going further, Rinpoche thinks it would be more beneficial if we cleared up any doubts that you might have up to now. Thinks that because most of you have not studied extensively, you would have many doubts, many qualms with respect to true sufferings. So in discussing true sufferings, we have to discuss karma and afflictive emotions since they arise out of this. And in terms Generally we can talk about two types of karma: skillful and unskillful karma.
There’s a third type that is unspecified karma, but this does not have any great result. It is skillful and unskillful karmas which have powerful result and various degrees of result. And additionally, there are the two types of karma, one of which acts to to acts to create cyclic existence and the other type of karma which does not create cyclic existence. So karma arises out of with respect to unskillful karma, karma that which creates cyclic existence. It has its root in the afflictive emotions of aversion, attachment, and confusion.
Any action which is motivated by these three. So all of those those actions which are motivated by the afflictive emotions are unskillful karmas. And these karmas create the type of embodiment, environment of the beings, the various types of migrations in which we experience. For example, the hell beings, hell realms, the realm of the hungry ghosts, and the animal realms. Therefore, these end results are termed true sufferings.
The human life and the life of a celestial being are attained under the power of skillful karma. What is the motivating force for the skillful karmas? That is, it is ignorance. And this ignorance creates a result in which there is a a clinging to existence. So even though the, for example, result of a human life is a product of skillful karma, the result, the root of karma, that is the motivating force of that karma, is in the afflictive emotion of ignorance, and therefore, it is that result is a true suffering.
So any any phenomena which arises under the influence of karma and afflictive emotions is is termed contaminated contaminated or the basis of suffering. But when we discuss this precious human life, we’re discussing this in different terms. It’s a different way of thinking about a human life. The precious human life is thought of it in terms of its of its capacity to carry on a practice of Dharma by means of which we can eliminate suffering and achieve happiness. The the reason we call our life the precious human life, because it possesses the great capacity whereby to carry on a practice of Dharma, which is the method to achieve happiness and eliminate suffering.
So in dependence upon the basis of a human life, can achieve Buddhahood in a single lifetime. We can achieve the level of a foe destroyer. We can achieve liberation. And it’s only on the basis of such a type of human life that these can be achieved. Though sentient beings are numberless equal to space, it is only humans who have this capacity.
That’s why we talk about the human life as being of such great power, potential, ability, benefit. So there there there are many You know, there are many different types of jewels in the world, many different types of precious substances, all the way from the most precious is gold and silver, and then down we get to brass and iron. These all have the degree of value, the different degrees of use. And so if we were to sell them in terms of their value, we would be able to sell them at various different prices. So they have different degrees of of benefit, different degrees of potential.
So it is said that of of all the precious substances that gold is first amongst these, and why is that? It’s because like Buddha’s body is like gold. In in the future. The future, brass will be the most valuable substance. Why is that?
Because in the future, Buddha Maitreya will appear in this world, and his body will be like brass. Therefore, brass will be become the most valuable of substances. So just as the reason that gold is the most precious substances, has the most greatest price is because Buddha Śākyamūni’s body is like gold. Likewise in the future, Buddha Maitreya’s body will be like, might be copper. Some copper or brass?
Brass. Brass. Brass. Brass will be the most valuable, precious substance and have the highest price. And the most precious substance will be in accordance with Buddha who is appearing in that realm.
Some will be yellow, some will be blue, some will be white, etcetera. So I you know, we we use the word, Rinpoche, which is usually translated as jewel, or it simply means that which is precious. And also we use the term money. Because just like a jewel, it has a great power. Can do anything.
With it, you can do just about anything. So we can we can get to whatever we want. We can get food, clothing, etcetera, with money. So just as in this. So we use this word precious, just like in terms of money that which has a great deal of power.
And it is we have this precious human life, or precious human body. It has a great deal of power. That’s why we call it precious, because it has the capacity to practice the Dharma by means of which we can alleviate our suffering and to achieve happiness. But not every human body has this power. Therefore, not every human life is a precious human life.
Though, because not every human practices the Dharma, has that capacity. And therefore, amongst all the many people in the world, there are a few who have the capacity. Therefore, we say that they have a precious human life. So these two terms, contaminated and precious, are not mutually exclusive. They’re not contradictory.
So the way these two terms are understood are different. When we talk about contaminated, we’re talking about how the how the from what did the object arrive? From from what caused the object arose. In this case, the arising of the human body from karma and afflictive emotions. When we talk about precious, such as the precious human life, we mean what capacity or what power does it have.
So the understandings of these two are different and they’re not necessarily contradictory. So we we have this precious human life of leisures and fortunes by which has this great power and we should our capacity and we should make use of it to practice the Dharma to alleviate our suffering and to find happiness. What the name is? Thought you do the. Say enough.
If we were to ask, well, in practicing Dharma, how are we go about practicing? So following the explanation in the ornament of the four close establishments of mindfulness comes an explanation of the four perfect abandonments, and this this is quite important to understand, the four perfect abandonments. So there are four practices. There is the two practices which are with respect to the fact that we do not want suffering, therefore we are to eliminate its causes. And there are two practices in connection with the fact that we want happiness and therefore we should cultivate its causes.
Suffering arises out of unskillful karma. And in terms of that unskillful karma, have to consider the unskillful karma that we have previously created, that is to say past unskillful karma, and the unskillful karma that will create in the future. So there’s past and future must which must be taken into consideration. So that we have to consider our individual past unskillful actions that we have created through body, speech, and mind, and apply the four opponent powers, beginning with the initial power of acknowledging our unskillful actions and developing a sense of regret with respect to them. And additionally, developing the determination to turn away and applying the antidotes.
If we apply well the four opponent powers whatsoever