Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. Khensur Rinpoche opens this 71-minute commentary with a gentle observation that Westerners dislike subdivisions — then uses traditional outlining to make a pointed claim: Lamrim is not a simple beginner’s teaching but a complete summary of all the Buddha’s words. He maps the three scopes (small, medium, and great capacity) onto two human goals — higher rebirth and ultimate liberation or Buddhahood — drawing on Atisha’s Lamp for the Path and Nāgārjuna. The session then focuses closely on the small-scope practitioner: why ethical discipline leads to higher rebirth, why giving secures wealth in future lives, and why patience determines appearance, companions, and access to a teacher — with Candrakīrti’s Madhyamakāvatāra cited on both ethics and patience. A Q&A closes with a precise doctrinal distinction: between liberation and Buddhahood, and which of the two obscurations each actually overcomes.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 04 LR 1999 03 16.mp3
UUID: 35e60f2d-c452-435e-8c06-fcb2241530a7
Teacher: Khensur Rinpoche
Collection: Lam Rim (Khensur Rinpoche)
Date: 1999-03-16
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 71.5 minutes
Words: ~3,453
So we come to the subject or topic that extracting the essence from this precious human rebirth which has two subdivisions. One is to develop the understanding in all parts, and the second is the actual way of extracting and distilling the essence from the parts. Yeah. In the west, the people, don’t like the subdivisions in the teachings. The first says this and then second is dividing the subdivisions and divisions into divisions.
But in Tibetan, we consider this is very important because one can understand the essence or the gist of the teachings by reading the headings of the subdivisions. So in that case the headings in Tibetan or Tibetan, we Tibetan people consider it very important. People here don’t like much divisions. It is like someone giving a speech and he’ll mention the main three topics a person who’s going to give a lecture on. He’ll say, I’ve got these three topics, these three points to discuss.
So by reading the points, the first main three points, we can understand some of his speech. Likewise. Is saying that developing an understanding of knowledge or understanding in all parts means he here described the general talk of teaching on all the parts and then showing the benefits and the reason of practicing all those parts. So in that case, pay more attention today. Pay more attention.
So, as you know, that Lamrim has been taught in three categories, which are the training in the stages of the path in common with the person of initial capacity and stage of the path in common with the person of intermediate capacity and the teaching in the part of great person of great capacity. And the Buddha Śākyamūni has set forth numbers of teachings like the teaching of Mahāyāna, Mahāyāna teaching, Hīnayāna, and then within the Mahāyāna is the teaching of perfection and the tantric teachings, you know, and so forth. No, tantric teachings. So he had set forth numbers of teachings. Teachings.
We can’t summarize or make all these words of Buddhist scripture available in Lamrim. But Lamrim has contained, has summarized all his teachings. All his Buddhist teachings are the meaning or essence of Buddhist teachings, of all his teachings are summarized or included in Lamrim teaching. That case, one needs to know how all Buddha’s teachings are included or summarized in these three scopes. So if one can get some understanding on this, then it is good to leave some imprints on all the teachings.
So one needs to know how Buddha’s teachings comes. One needs to know how Buddha’s teaching has come. And so from the very beginning, the Buddha Śākyamūni is like ordinary being like us who’ve been suffering in the Samsāra. After a while he met with and later on he met with his great teachers like Mañjuśrī. And from them he received the teachings and developed a generation or wish to free from cyclic existence.
By seeing his and by seeing he himself is suffering and he came to know that all sentient beings, other sentient beings are same as myself suffering in this cyclic existence. And by knowing that, and he developed a special mind, his altruistic intention that to free all those he developed a special wish, that wish to free all sentient beings from the suffering and bring them to the ultimate happiness, state of ultimate happiness. By developing such, he generates altruistic intention or generates a bodhicitta. And the reason why he has generated bodhicitta is because it is to attain the enlightenment for the sake of sentient beings or to attain enlightenment to free all those sentient beings from suffering and bring them to the state of ultimate happiness. So his generation of bodhicitta is only for sentient beings.
So the purpose of developing the bodhicitta is to attain enlightenment for the sake of sentient beings. And to attain enlightenment, has to collect the store of merit and so for the sake of all sentient beings he cultivates, he accumulates, gets your merit through practicing in the path of perfection and tantra. And he had worked so hard in the middle. He has worked so hard in the middle to accumulate the merits. And all those are done only for the sake of sentient beings.
After working for a long time, working very so hard for a long time, he accumulated a great store of merit. And due to that, the result of that he attained the Buddhahood for sentient beings’ sake. His attainment of enlightenment is only for the sake of sentient beings as well. And after achieving enlightenment and he is free from all the negativities and all the sufferings. And if he want, he can stay.
After enlightenment, he has overcome all the negativities and he has only happiness. And even if he wants to stay, he can stay only with happiness. Very holiday. He can take a very good holiday. But he didn’t take a holiday.
And because he has huge, he has very strong compassion or affection towards sentient beings. Such affection is even one hundred times greater than affection received to only son by his or her mother. After his enlightenment, he had taught numbers of teaching. And the reason of giving all those teaching is only to fulfill the sentient beings’ wish. Buddha Śākyamūni is very helpful and kind to us.
So as to his own So as his teachings are only set forth to fulfill sentient beings wish or the achievement, one needs to know what is the achievement or what is their wish. And as for that, Nāgārjuna has set forth that Buddha gave are only to fulfill the sentient beings’ wish or the achievement. The achievement or the wish of sentient beings the wish or the achievement of sentient beings is two, which are the temporary and ultimate achievement of temporary happiness, which has taken higher rebirth and the definite goodness. So our wish is to attain the temporary and ultimate achievement. Temporary achievement is taking high rebirth and the ultimate achievement is a definite goodness.
And so the two achievements highly both in the definite goodness. So taking higher rebirth is our temporary achievement. It is because we have so we have to so once once we once we we were once we’ve been born, we had it’s definite for us to die. And and and our and after our death, we we are not disappeared or we are not stopping our life our births. And so our birth has been followed by the positive been resolved by the positive.
It’s either positive or negative. And as for us, all the sentient beings, most of them always engage in the unwholesome deeds. And As a result of that, one has to suffer for a long time in lower states. One has to suffer a long time in lower states. For that, it states that temporary achievement is the higher rebirth because if one follows the the then we can attain the higher rebirths like gods and humans.
And where there is some happiness for a time being. So taking of birth as God and human are the temporary achievement or, yeah, which is are the higher rebirths and also temporary achievement as well. And the higher rebirths are rebirths are taking that birth as a god or the human, which has three characteristics or which are three excellences, like excellent body, excellent wealth, excellent companies. These two are the high rebirths. So the teachings set forth for the attainment of these higher are called the stages of the path in common with the initial capacity or small scope mainly said.
So the higher achieving higher rebirths are set forth in the part common, stage of the part common with the initial stage. And as for the definite goodness, there are two. One is liberation, only being liberated or free from saṃsāra, the Buddhahood, which is free from all the sufferings and and all the sufferings and and negative all the suffering, which is all free from all the sufferings. So the teaching is set forth to the lower vehicles, say the Hearers and the solitary realizers. The teachings of those are to attain liberation only to free from saṃsāra.
So those teachings are set forth or included in the stages of the path in common with intermediate intermediate capacity. And to achieve the all knowing which is Buddhahood, free from all negativities and acquire all good qualities. And the teachings set forth like perfections and the tantric teachings which are set forth for the attainment of Buddhahood all knowing. These teachings are included or are being set forth in stages the part of great capacity. So in this case, all the teachings of Buddhas are included or summarized in the part of three So, Lamrim teaching has, is not is a very profound teaching and it’s not an easy or simple teaching.
We in daily ordinary, so we in daily days think that Lamrim is kind of like simple teaching, simple teaching and does not need a well qualified teacher and on a student or a disciple who receives should be receives learning teaching should be, say, like a real newcomers. Such a thought or idea is a mistaken one. So all these essence teachings of Buddha Śākyamūni are included in these three parts of these three beings. Great master Tsongkhapa has stated that if I listen to a whole teaching of Lamrim, one can receive a benefit or equal benefit. Great master Tsongkhapa has stated that if one listen to whole teaching of Lamrim, then one can receive the same benefit as listening to all the teachings of Buddha.
And if I meditate upon whole Lamrim one gain the same benefits or merits one meditating on whole teachings of Buddha. Even if someone teach the whole teaching of Lamrim, then the benefit or the merit he can from giving teaching the whole teachings of Buddha. So for that, the great master Atisha stated in his Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment, said that one who by every means he finds seeks but the pleasure of saṃsāra and cares for himself alone. That one is known as the person of initial capacity. And what it means is, a one, a practitioner who is either a layperson or an audience, or a male or a female, and who seeks the method through going refuge and practicing practice in ethical training training in the ethics of practicing ten virtues and upon that through practice in giving and patience are to attain the rebirth, and to achieve higher rebirth with excellent body well-being friends, which are only for one sake, is a person of such person is the person of initial capacity.
What to me And great master Tsongkhapa stated that as for the person of initial capacity in general has two types of beings. One who mainly seeks happiness in this life and who does not work for the next life. Another is one who mainly works for the next life, but not happiness in the next life and not in this life. So two types of beings. The first one who works for the happiness in this life is not included or is not initial person of initial capacity as mentioned here.
The person of initial capacity, which we mentioned here, is a person who seeks, who works for the happiness in next life. And so the initial person or initial capacity is who consider the next rebirth is more important and work for oneself to achieve a good take a better rebirth, good rebirth in the next life with the three excellencies. To have three excellencies, like friendship, excellent body, wealth and companies. And so one who training who one who trained in the ten in the ethics of practice one who practice the ethics in training in the ten virtues ten virtues and practicing the practice of giving and patience, mainly to attain such a rebirth is called the person of initial capacity. So that person, initial capacity, needs to the reason why that person needs to see more the next rebirth, the next higher rebirth is more important and work for the attainment of such is.
They do such practice to attain their high rebirth because it is because if they don’t work or don’t practice to attain such, then it is sure for them to have been born in any of those three bad rebirths, in hell realms hell realms, hungry ghosts, and the animal realms after their death. And if unborn or take birth in any of these three realms, it is sure for one to suffer for a long a long time. By knowing that one generates, one develops fear to take such rebirth and they strive to achieve the better rebirth in the next life. So we have a saying in Tibetan that one is very clever if he thinks beforehand and one is a fool if he feels regret. What it means is if one thinks beforehand and do, then one can one is very clever because one can do something good.
And if one don’t think beforehand and do something wrong and later they feel regret, it’s a fool or foolish or fool, you know, to do such. The reason why person of initial capacity has to train in the ethics or training the moral, ethical discipline. It’s because to attain or a human rebirth in next lives. So to attain a precious human rebirth, one has to train in ethical discipline. And the great master Candrakīrti has stated in Madhyamakāvatāra that there is no other cause for higher rebirth than the ethical discipline or strengthening ethics.
And it is also said from other texts as well that ethical discipline is the only one which prevents one from going to or taking lower rebirths. So what it actually means, the main is that to attain to higher rebirth or precious human rebirth, one has to train in ethical discipline or in ethics. So, such training of ethics or ethical discipline is training in the abandonment of ten non virtues. And the reason why they have the training, the practice of giving is because training an ethical discipline will bring you let you be born in the higher rebirth. Rebirths.
But if one lacks the practice of training of giving, then even if one take birth in higher rebirths by practicing ethical discipline, one lacks wealth or possessions. And by lacking the wealth and position, one is missing a condition one condition to practice Dharma. So training in giving is to attain or achieve wealth in the next lives. Practicing ethical discipline one will gain higher rebirths like human rebirths. And as a result of practicing giving, one will have reasonable reasonable wealth along that higher rebirths.
And the reason of practicing patience is to attain better features or better figure in better condition. If one doesn’t practice in patience then even if one take a birth in higher rebirths, like human rebirths, one will have very awful figures or appearance. And one has such a body or such an appearance that even people just feel uneasy or something that people don’t like you just by your side. So having or not physically alright. So if one takes such appearance or the burden on the body or not physically alright, then one is lacking a condition to practice the Dharma.
So the practice in giving or practicing sorry practicing the patience is important, is to have better rebirth and better condition in next life. And if one does not practice patience, then one will not have good friend or good company to practice teachings, to accompany in one’s practice. Or even if I find a friend, he won’t stay along with you and one will lack also one will lack special teacher to receive the teaching. Who lacks wisdom, the potential of being born with having no wisdom or the wisdom knowledge, which the knowledge or wisdom of understanding what is to be practiced and what to avoid. So the Candrakīrti has set forth the benefits of practicing patience in the Madhyamakāvatāra by practicing patience one will have a good figure, good appearance, and will find good friends and and harmony with new friends.
One will, one will met with the spiritual teacher or one will met met one will meet with the guru and gain a and had a good excellent wisdom that by relying upon spiritual teacher and one will through their wisdom one can understand the practice of I mean, can one will have the wisdom wisdom which understand what to be practiced and what to be avoid. And by doing such practice later one can attain higher rebirths as Gods and human. And finally, one can attain liberation as well. So, the practitioner or the person who practice the practice of small scope or the person of initial stage, their motivation is they need to generate such motivation to or motivation is to abandon the practice in abandonment of of the ten non virtues among within the ten non virtues one mainly tries to abandon the first seven non virtues, three done through body and four through speech. Needs to have a motivation to attain or achieve higher rebirths in next life.
So one has to develop such motivation while practicing in the stages of the part in common with the person of initial capacity. So through such motivation one has to practice or engage in the practice of a person of initial, better say, engage in the practice of small scope and try to abandon all the abandonment of small scopes. Practitioner or one who practices in the small scope needs such a motivation. So we had been practising for a long time and so one should examine one’s practise and check whether one is doing such a practise or not. If is already doing this practice or has such motivation, then feel rejoice.
And if one finds and feels rejoice and develop or increase one’s practice and improve one’s practice, and if one finds that one hasn’t got even, one hasn’t reached or one practice hasn’t become the smallest one, the practice of middle scope and feel regret. We have made so huge effort in whole our lifetime practicing, but our practice didn’t become the practice of middle scope and feel regret, and then put more effort to develop such a motivation. Then by doing this, one’s life becomes meaningful. So I’ll stop here today, and if you have any questions from today’s class, we’ll save a few minutes for the question and answer. Only from Samsāra.
Yeah. Someone who start only to free or only to liberate from saṃsāra. Yeah. I think I guess I said that. Yeah.
Then somebody who Yeah. Free from faults or sufferings. Sufferings and negativities or faults. So you want to know what that suffering is? Can you repeat that last part of the question?
And this work. No. It was the divisions of definite goodness, which is the liberation and the Buddhahood, or all knowing. Liberation is to free from cyclic existence, saṃsāra. The Buddhahood is to free from all the suffering and faults negativities and acquire all the good qualities.
But, no, when a per like liberation, the first one, is only to free from liberation, they they they have overcome all the sufferings. They don’t have any suffering because they have abandoned the saṃsāra. Okay. So liberation, we liberate only to free from saṃsāra. They have overcome the So that particular liberate or arhathood, which is the Hearers and the solitary realizer schools, or vehicle.
They have overcome the saṃsāra and overcome all the disturbing emotions so that they are free from sufferings. But they haven’t abandoned the obscuration of phenomena. They still have the imprints of the obscuration of sorry, it was not a phenomenon obscuration of wisdom. There are two main abandonments. What are the two obscurations, obscuration of afflicted emotions, and the obscuration of Sorry?
Omniscience or knowledge. Obscuration to the omniscient or knowledge. So they haven’t overcome the obscuration of Obscuration to omniscient. So they are not free from all the They are liberated only from saṃsāra but not overcome all the faults. They are not free from all the faults and they don’t acquire all the good qualities.
Today we have discussed mainly about or on stage of the part in common with the initial capacity. About this, just what we discussed in question and answer, these will come in the next two scopes. No. Okay.