Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 34-minute talk, Khensur Rinpoche closes the 1997 King of Prayers series with a fire metaphor: sporadic bursts of effort never ignite a practice, but consistent moderate effort accumulates into real realization. He then lays out a complete daily template — morning offerings and an awakened-heart motivation before Lamrim or refuge recitation; bringing altruism into workplace interactions; and an evening session of Vajrasattva mantra or the confession of the thirty-five Buddhas, followed by honest review of whether the day matched the morning intention. Rinpoche closes by announcing his departure, asking senior students to study the Six Yogas of Naropa and mind-training texts together in his absence, and administering refuge vows to new students.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 06 KoP 1997 12 08.mp3
UUID: f2274d69-40ba-49a6-92da-c5db90e4f7cf
Teacher: Khensur Rinpoche
Collection: King of Prayers (Khensur Rinpoche)
Date: 1997-12-08
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 34.2 minutes
Words: ~2,307
And how how are we to proceed in our practice? That we we have to we have to begin by practicing today, and we develop a determination that I am going to put these teachings into practice today. And then we develop a determination that just as I practice today, am going to do the same tomorrow. I am going to practice in a continual fashion in just that same way. And then having in terms the day after tomorrow.
And that for the next week in some consistent fashion. And then for the next month, for the next year, that I am going to practice in this way until my death. So a a consist a determination to have a consistent stream of practice of each day until one dies. If we proceed in this way, then having meditated today, having cultivated an understanding, an ability today, then tomorrow that meditation will go that much easier. That understanding will come that much more readily, that our ability will increase that much more.
Then we proceed the day after that and again it becomes that much easier in all these various respects. Becomes easier and easier and easier and easier. It’s like the development of a fire. Initially the fire is maybe just a spark but eventually it spreads until there’s a great conflagration and here the conflagration are the various realizations and ultimately as a means to remove all our various faults and bring to consummation all our excellent qualities. Just as in creating a fire that in order for it to to blaze up, it has there has to be some consistency.
If if we if we start to make a fire and then we set it aside and we and we and we again we take it up and we begin to start to to make a fire and again we set it aside. That if it’s intermediate like this, then there’s no we can never develop it it will never ignite. Likewise, in terms of our practice, if we if we’re continually setting it aside, then there will be no power in our practice. We will gain no real realizations. Likewise, there has to be consistency in terms of our practice.
We can’t just make a great effort one day and then set it aside for the next few days. We won’t develop any potency in terms of our practice. So we we shouldn’t make, you know, a a a great put forth a great burst of effort, just a a moderate effort, but not to having made that effort, not not to leave it aside the next day, but to continue with that moderate over a consistent in a consistent fashion over a period of time. This way whatever abilities, whatever powers we may be developing will not be lost in the process, that they will we will our potency will accrue, it will accumulate and we will definitely in this fashion develop in our practice. So how are we to actually practice for that one day?
Well, when we wake up in the morning, we should be mindful of the fact that we didn’t die over that night and that we have an opportunity to continue in our practice and this is due to the kindness of our spiritual master, our lama. And we, in general, we want to make our life meaningful and but most especially determined to make this day meaningful and meaningful that is to say in terms of our practice of Dharma. And having gotten then we get up. We we wash. Then we whatever representeachings of the Buddhist or the Dharma, the and our spiritual lama, pictures or whatever, we make offerings before them.
We can make offerings of incense or flowers or offerings of water. And then if you wish, in the interval, you can have a cup of tea. And then having had a cup of tea, then you go on to a practice of meditation. You should first have a seat, a meditative seat. This seat should be raised in the rear and lowered in the front and then making three prostrations and then comfortably sitting oneself on the cushion.
And then proceeding in the cultivation of one’s motivation that this practice is not for oneself alone, but understanding that all sentient beings are alike and that none want to suffer, that they all want to experience happiness. Therefore, for the sake of all sentient beings, in order to free them from suffering, to lead them to happiness, I must attain Buddhahood. And therefore, I’m this is the motivation behind my present practice. That is developing as a motivation for your practice, the awakened heart. If you have the time, then you could for example do the practice of the hundred deities of the land of joy, that of Ganden Lhagyama, the prayer that we’ve just had explained.
Then go on to do the offering a mandala and then the offering the actual meditation. For example, you can meditate on the Lamrim, the graduated path. If you don’t have much time, one then you should as you should practice as follows. You know, understanding that just as you yourself feel suffering, not only over the course of this life but in terms of all future lives, that all sentient beings are the same in the in the terms of anxiety around their sufferings. And then recalling the that the the excellent qualities of the Buddha as able to protect us from this anxiety in terms of our future suffering, then go for refuge to the Buddha, the Dharma and the spiritual community.
For example, you can recite Namo Buddhaya, Namo Dharmayaya, Namo Sanghaya. Or alternatively, you could recite the the the verse that we quite often recite, here, as the way of going for refuge. I go for refuge to the Buddha, the Dharma, and the spiritual community. As I’m going for refuge. Through the creative potential of my practice and generosity and other perfections, may I achieve the state of a Buddha for the sake of all living beings? That is the open hearted attitude of the awakened heart.
Then it would be excellent if, for example, you you have to go then go to work and that to to develop an altruistic attitude behind you going for work for that day and what you’re going to do, that you develop a beneficial intention in terms of your work, that it is to not only to help yourself but in order to help all others and that you’re going to do your work well for the sake of all others and that over the course of your day you’re not going to allow neither your body, speech or mind to come under the influence of negativities, but you’re going to, as best you can, to abandon these negative ways of thinking, speaking and acting and to try to implement skillful ways of acting over the course of the day for the sake of others. And then when you do get to work and you’re your colleagues, those who you work with, then try to have a sense of good feelings for them, try to create a sense of harmony amongst yourselves and try to whatever is being said to imbue the interactions with the attitude of compassion. With the so do your work in a kind hearted fashion and with a sense of honesty to be straightforward.
And then having come home in the evening to wash and then to, again, practice meditation, whatever the practice might be. It might be Vajrasattva. It might be disclosure of downfalls. Let’s say, the confession of the thirty five Buddhas. You may meditate on the Lamrim, the graduated path or the awakened heart, whatever.
It’s also necessary that we check up to see if over the course of our day that we have acted in accordance our with the motivation, our intention that we set out in the morning. You know, did did did you actually benefit others? Did you actually practice the Dharma well over the course of your day? Or in fact, know, whether did you harm others or did you benefit others over the course of your day? You saw that you acted in accordance with your previous intention to benefit others, then rejoice in what you did. If on the contrary that you saw that you got in a lot of fights, you caused people problems, you did nothing but accumulate negativities over the course of your day, then develop a sense of regret around having acted that way and then implement some antidote to the negativity.
For example, it could be the practice of Vajrasattva or the disclosure of downfalls, confession of the thirty-five Buddhas. You can do the very short Vajrasattva mantra, Om Vajrasattva hum. Just you can do that twenty one times in the context of applying the four powers. And to make if if you did not act in a skillful fashion over the course of the day, then determine tomorrow I’m not going to I’m not going to act in that same way, to develop a determination to restrain yourself from acting in those in those negative ways. Or if you’d act in a skillful way, try to not only to rejoice but determine to again implement those same skillful ways of acting.
If you proceed in this fashion each day in habituating your mind to this way of thinking, then you each over the course of each day, your mind will develop higher and higher and higher. We have to make our practice a priority in our lives. We have to ensure that we set aside time for our practice, create the time for our practice. It doesn’t come out from the outside. It’s something that we have to create for ourselves to create the space for our practice.
If we have to some kind of discipline is necessary in this way. It would be very sad if we allowed our life to pass in a meaningless fashion that upon our death we simply do not become nonexistent. Our mental continuum will go on to take rebirth. And if we have created skillful actions over the course of life, we can be assured that we will experience a happy rebirth. But the contrary, will experience the opposite.
Try to cultivate as much as possible love and compassion. We simply don’t know when impermanence in terms of death is going to occur for ourselves. Therefore, we have to ensure that our life is meaningful. So I ask you to please practice in just such a way. I have great hopes for you.
So I like to suggest that if it were if it was possible that you that you come together over the course of the next year since I I will be leaving and while I’m away that that you listen to the various teachings that I have given. And, for example, in terms of the more senior students, they could come together and listen to the teachings on the six yogas of Naropa and they could discuss them, go over the points of what is being taught and then practice them in that period of time. Or in the case of some of the teachings on the mind training, You can listen to a tape, come together, listen to a tape, discuss all the points which have been brought up in the tape and then practice that, those points which have been discussed, meditate on that. So I think this would be an excellent way to fill in while I’m away. So there there are now there are many senior both senior and newer students of Buddha House, and I I ask that that you please take care of Buddha House and to help Buddha House.
Very good. Thank you. So please take care of your health and try to create harmony harmony amongst you that, you know, that you’re all Dharma brothers and sisters. You know, there there are the three, Buddha, Dharma, and the Sangha, the spiritual community. And the Buddha is represented by our teachers and the Dharma by the various practices that we that we make use of.
And the Sangha or the spiritual community are those who who who come together and they listen to the teachings and they they cultivate them, meditate them, try to practice together in this way. And this is your Sangha and you should help one another, try to benefit each other, try not to create any have any negative attitudes toward one another, but on the contrary, have a great caring for one another. So one person has asked to be given the vow of refuge. So we’re going to do that now. So if you the rest of you could just have a cup of tea and enjoy yourself, and that that that person or someone who wants to take refuge should remain.
Okay. Thank you. Is is there anyone else who would like to take our refuge? Yeah. If you do, then remain.
So then we we dedicate. First offering a a mandala. We offer a mandala at the end of the teaching as a thanksgiving offering. When someone does us a favor, does something that we’ve liked, it’s very common in the West. That even if it’s something insignificant we say thank you, thank you, thank you.
What to say of something as important as having been taught the Dharma and in this way we offer rather than simply grabbing the teaching and running, we we we offer a mandala as a way of thanks. Okay. Okay. And finally the verses of dedication on page five. Yeah.
Think it’ll take