Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 77-minute talk, Khensur Rinpoche explores foundational concepts of the Lamrim by building on the logician Dignāgā’s insight that beginningless saṃsāra can only end through pure practice. He develops the core argument that liberation requires first understanding suffering, then seeking refuge in the Three Jewels (Buddha, Dharma, Sangha), and cultivating faith through knowledge of their good qualities. Rinpoche walks through the Buddha’s thirty-two major and eighty minor marks, the sixty melodic qualities of his speech, and his profound compassion and omniscience. He traces Buddha Śākyamūni’s own path from ordinary being to enlightenment through six years of continuous meditation, emphasizing that Dharma is immensely precious because it overcomes suffering and enables liberation. Throughout, he stresses the inseparable combination of faith and reason in Buddhist practice, illustrating how proper Dharma practice gradually increases good qualities while reducing negativities until one achieves Buddhahood. Pitched at practitioners seeking to understand the foundations of the spiritual path.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 16 LR 1999 06 29.mp3
UUID: 14059662-7c90-43c0-a1a7-309b8008805d
Teacher: Khensur Rinpoche
Collection: Lam Rim (Khensur Rinpoche)
Date: 1999-06-29
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 77.7 minutes
Words: ~4,123
So here the great master, Dignāgā, has stated that we had circles. We have been circled from in the cyclic existence from the beginningless time, means we can’t pinpoint where we started circling the cyclic existence and said that if we do not do the pure and proper practice, then we can’t stop or end circling in the cyclic existence, which means that if we do or read a proper practice, there will be or there is the end the end of cycling in the cyclic existence. So you said that we need to free ourselves from the cyclic existence or the saṃsāra. And to free oneself from the saṃsāra, first one needs to have the fear towards the suffering of saṃsāra. And through these fears, one needs to seek a refuge or a protection to free oneself from the saṃsāra.
So who is the protection or who is the method to free oneself from the cyclic existence? And here he said that the Three Jewels are the refuge or the method to free oneself from this cyclic existence. So one needs to seek help from the Buddhadharma and Sangha to free oneself, protect you from this cyclic existence. And in order to receive this protection or help from Buddhadharma and Sangha, first one needs to have a proper faith towards Buddhadharma. If one has the faith towards Buddhadharma and Sangha, then they will definitely help you to free.
It’s like we need to have faith in Three Jewels. So we use the word faith in the context of practice. For example, if you give an example here, like in worldly things, say there is a person who is well educated and very famous and is very kind heartedness who helps others and never tell a lie. When you see such a person, always feel pleased and very happy and like that person. So, which is in words, so seeing such person you will feel very happy to see that person, that very honest person.
So in worldly thing, in normal language, better say, we say one is very happy. In contrast to the teaching or religious things, say we feel we have faith in that person. So to develop a faith in Buddhadharma and Sangha, first, if one sees the vast quantity of wisdom or knowledge of Buddhadharma and Sangha, if one sees the knowledge and how they help sentient beings, if one sees all those, then one will develop a faith in Dharma and Sangha. So in order to develop a faith, first one has to see the good qualities of the object, of the Triple Gem. Without knowing the knowledge of good qualities of the treasures, one will not be able to generate or have faith in the So here we say that one needs to have faith and says they’re taking refuge or developing faith by knowing the good qualities of the.
So here it’s also said that a person who lacks faith cannot develop the White qualities means good qualities. It is like a burnt seed, and the burnt seed cannot give a sprout because its potential of growing or giving birth to the sprout is being burned. And also says that the faith is like a mother. Because it says to the mother because without the mother there is no child. Due to having a mother or because of that mother, there is a child, and then the mother takes care of the child and then looks after them seeking protections from all the harms and then finally bring the person or the child to the good position to have a good life.
So all this happiness and all those things that the child has is originally derived from the mother. So the faith is like the mother. So it’s like that all those great, vast, profound knowledge of good qualities, paths and concepts, great vehicles, and then the knowledge of bodhisattvas, arhat beings. All these good qualities are the birth or comes from the root, which is the faith. Those beings have developed such vast good qualities due to their because of their faith.
And also, increased their knowledge. It’s also happened or caused from the particular cause, which is faith. So in order to have or develop faith in Buddhadharma and Sangha, first one has to see the qualities of each Buddhadharma and Sangha. And so about the knowledge of Buddha, there are vast quantity of good qualities. So for Buddha, he has like we do, like three doors, body, speech and mind.
For Buddha, he has many qualities, vast quantity of knowledge, saying the qualities of body, speech and mind. All I have to mean So here, the statue of Buddha house. Statue of Buddha house, Buddha. It’s it it represents the figure or it represent the Buddha, but it’s not the actual Buddha. The actual Buddha is a being.
So these statues are meant to be the figure of the real Buddhas, but actually it is very difficult to make an exact statue of Buddha, but it’s just for the representation or to symbolize. So it’s been said that if we see the real Buddha in front of us, then it’s very difficult to look at him. And the Buddha is like has a very bright light and it’s looking at Buddha is like looking at the sun. It’s very difficult to see. So, once in the ancient time, the followers or the disciples of Buddha asked the greatest artist to draw a picture of the Buddha.
He tried to draw and then when he looked at Buddha, he cannot actually see the figure because of that bright light. So he failed to draw the picture of Buddha by looking straight to Buddha. So what he did was he put a very light material used as a curtain, and then seeing the reflection or the shape on the so by looking at the reflection or the shape, he make the picture or he draw the picture of Buddha. And so about the good qualities of Buddha’s body, here the future Buddha, Buddha Maitreya, in his Ornament of Clear Realization has stated that there are thirty-two major and eighty minor marks of the Buddha, which are the good qualities of Buddha’s body. These are such that even an ordinary being can see them.
These are the qualities that the ordinary beings can see in Buddha’s body. So there are thirty two major and eighty minor marks. We can’t go into the detail of each one of those good qualities, but if we mention a few, then the Buddha’s, it’s been stated that in the center of Buddha’s feet, like the imprint of plums, and then under the feet are the chakras or the wheel of golden chakras, meaning the drawing of golden chakras. When he walks, he never touches his feet on the ground like there is a four inches gap between his leg and his feet and the ground.
We can see the prints of the chakra very clearly on the ground. And then and any any any beings or little tiny creatures, like insects happen to get under his feet, that particular being will have the happiness of God realms for a week. And then when it dies, they will take a birth in God realms. And then when he sees the sick person, he’s just meant to be touching. It’s not actually touching the patient’s body, but when he waves his hands towards the body, all the disease or sickness has been cured or released.
So, I mean, Even just a single marks of the thirty two, like having of this chakra, has lots of very vast good qualities. If you go all good qualities of all the then we can’t finish it for ages. So they said that thirty-two marks, major marks, and the marks like the chakras and the uṣṇīṣa on his crown, and so forth. So these are called the major marks. It’s called the marks because by having all those marks or major marks, it symbolizes that person is a holy being or a perfect being.
Holy beings here mean to be that person means the person will never perform any negative duties or bad actions. And then there are also eighty minor marks, which are like his nails, the Buddha’s fingernails, which are like the color of copper. Copper color. And people in Australia and Europe here, I mean, they use the nail polish, isn’t it? So maybe they just try to symbolize like the Buddha.
Using lipsticks. And the text on the Ornament of Clear Realization has mentioned that the Buddha’s lips are as red as, it’s like one fruit in India, it’s very, very red, so his lips are like that particular fruit. So it’s called the eighty minor marks. The word itself is paved, which usually means example.
It means having the characteristics of the body like the nails like a copper color and red lips, so forth, which means his body looks very beautiful and appealing. Likewise, those qualities symbolize that he has certain very good inner qualities. I don’t know about those people who use this nail polish or lipsticks. And I don’t know what kind of sign that is, or what kind of knowledge they have inside. So there are eighty minor marks which are showing the qualities or characteristics of the external figure and which refer or which symbolize that he has vast or certain knowledge inside.
So by knowing the qualities, these many qualities he has, by knowing these, one can generate the faith. So if one goes through classical monastic studies or curriculums, like training in great texts, very vast texts, then by knowing, by studying on those thirty-two and eighty major and minor marks, one can understand all the good qualities or inner qualities of the Buddha. And so it is very important to study on the major text. So there are many good qualities of Buddha’s body, and we can’t go through all the detail. About the good qualities of Buddha’s speech, it is said that his speech has sixty melodies, or melodies means sixty good qualities.
So there are sixty melodies or sixty characteristics in his speech, and if you go through a few here, it’s very eloquent, very smooth. Then it’s very appealing. Whenever one heard his speech, it always get to the point that one is as one’s wishes. And so say if one hundred to one hundred people ask one hundred different questions at one time and in one time the Buddha understands all the questions and he gives the answer once and all the hundred people will hear the language, hear in their own language, and they receive the answer for their questions.
It’s like, say, when Buddha says the word impermanence or emptiness once, just one word, and for the different hundred beings and hundred languages, he uses the one word and then people will hear in their language and also will hear what they want to, what they wish. So single sentence or single answer will give the answer for all hundred questions at once and on their own language. And also, they clarify the different people’s doubts at the same time. Not only for the answers, even when Buddha gives teachings and say if he says the teaching all the contaminated things are suffering and all the compositional factors are impermanence. But the people in the audience, what they hear according to their wish.
If they are wanting to have a teaching about the renunciation, they will hear about renunciation. If they want to hear about the sufferings in exactly existence, they will hear about their sufferings and also will hear in their own language. These are the qualities of Buddhist speech, and the qualities of mind the Ornament of Clear Realization of Maitreya, Ornament of Clear Realization, there are numbers of good qualities of the mind mentioned like the ten powers, four fearlessness and so forth. We can’t go through all the details. We summarize here then the qualities of the mind are like the qualities of knowledge and of compassion and of powers.
And so about the qualities of the knowledge or omniscience, it has like the knowledge which sees all phenomena that exist and the phenomena as they are, which means all things that exist, which is in Sanskrit yavat, which means the phenomena referring to the conventional truths. And then the yatha, which is things as they are, means all the phenomena of the ultimate truths. He sees all those things that exist and things as they are, like seeing an amalaka fruit. It’s a small, round fruit.
He can see all those phenomena, like seeing an amalaka fruit in his palm. As clearly as seeing that fruit in his palm. So, he can see the things as it is, means here the ultimate truths are like emptiness. As for the sentient beings, like bodhisattvas, arhats and all those beings, when they meditate single-pointedly or they are in single-pointed meditative equipoise on emptiness, while they are on meditative equipoise they cannot manage other things like teaching, moving or going from place to place. Whereas in Buddha, while he is on the single pointed meditation or in the meditative on emptiness, while he was on that meditative equipoise, he can also manage giving teachings as well as help benefiting sentient beings and travel.
He can also travel. So, but knowing this, there is no such a time that Buddha Buddha is not meditating or he is not in the meditative equipoise, emptiness. So these things are the unique qualities of Buddhas. So, and then the good qualities of qualities of compassion. And so his compassion is, for example, in this world, worldly thing, the greatest love or compassion, which we can say is a mother with a single child and her love and compassion towards that child is the, you can say, the greatest compassion or love.
And so if you compete the Buddha’s love towards sentient beings and the love that a mother gives to a single child, if you compete those two love, even the mother’s love to itself, the love that mothers to her single child cannot compete with will get or will compete with the I mean, one percentage of Buddha’s love towards sentient beings. And the good qualities of power or potential of Buddha is that he always benefits and fulfills others without any effort, in the sense that he does not need to fulfill other beings’ wishes with any preparation like generating the altruistic intention or developing the intention to help certain beings. Without any effort, he can instantly fulfill others’ wish. Whereas for us, what kind of action, what kind of thing we want or we need, we always need to work hard and apply or make have needs effort to accomplish that. And so if we ask, I mean, how Buddha’s or how the had acquired all these good qualities, then it’s that by practicing it from the teaching or the Dharma.
By practicing Dharma, due to that, he gained all these qualities from Dharma. He has overcome all the negativities and then acquired and perfected all the good qualities and is a great help for sentient beings. So all these good qualities, all these things he had attained due to from practicing Dharma. The knowledge or qualities of Dharma is also immeasurable. So by practicing the Dharma he has attained all good qualities.
In general, there are numbers of Buddhas. Here, the Buddha Śākyamūni, he was born in India in the Shakta tribe in olden days, and maybe it still exists, there are many tribes or caste systems and castes in India, like Shakti tribe and Brahmins and so forth. Brahmins, Kashriyas. There are many tribes. So he was born in the Shakya tribe.
So he was first born as an ordinary being. Then he practiced the Dharma and first developed love and compassion, and then bodhicitta. And then from that, by cultivating bodhicitta, he practiced the five paths. He perfected all the five paths. The five paths are those in the Heart Sūtra mantra called Gate Gate Pāragate Pārasamgate.
The first Gate Gate refers to the first two paths of the great vehicles. And then the Pāragate is the third one. And then the Pārasamgate is the fourth. The final stage is where the bodhisattva attains enlightenment. By practicing in all those paths and grounds, he’s been able to purify all the negativities and attain all good qualities and become enlightened.
He meditated continuously for six years without stopping. He just sat once and never got off from that posture for six years continuously in a place called Nālānda, where he did the six years meditation. And then after doing the six years meditation in that place, and then he went to the Bodh Gaya and meditate under the Bodh Gaya tree and become enlightened. Then he went on to Varanasi and turned the first wheel of Dharma. So from the beginning, he himself practiced the Dharma and then become enlightened. The Dharma which he practiced and became enlightened by, he shows that Dharma and teaches towards the sentient beings and helps sentient beings and takes sentient beings towards the liberation or become arhats and enlightenment.
So So he undergoes through all these hardships and study with great effort. He perfected himself. By studying through hardship and great effort, studied practices, teachings, and perfected himself. They say there are some people who perfected him or herself without any hardships or saying not studying or without any effort. So I don’t know how to define that person who perfected without the learning or without any efforts.
So even in this worldly country, there’s no such educated person without doing any studies. Buddha has acquired or attained is by doing a practice or studying the Dharma. So in this sense the Dharma has a great capacity or great knowledge. One should consider the teachings or the Dharma as being very precious and holy because it it overcomes all the sufferings and give ultimate happiness. So, you know, worldly and mundane thing or worldly status, always consider money is very holy or important because it gives one’s what one needs or what one and yeah.
So one’s happiness or So so in So they consider the money is wholly important because they use the money to overcome suffering and achieve the happiness. So as the teaching or Dharma is very holy and precious. Due to that, a being or one who does the pure practice of Dharma, that also becomes very holy and So it is because the person practice, the person purely practice the Dharma and due to the practice, the one will become Buddha like Buddha Śākyamūni and then can benefit the numbers of sentient beings. So these are the qualities of Buddhadharma Sangha. By knowing the good qualities of the Triple Gem, then one will be able to and should develop a faith.
Faith here means, so one should feel happy and then yeah. One should generate the faith which is like love towards Buddha, Lama and Sangha. So, should develop faith in the Buddha, Buddha, Buddha, Dharma, Sangha. And it’s not just by mere words is not enough that I have faith and I like or feel happy in Buddha. What one needs to do is Buddha is our teacher who teaches you what things to be done and what to avoid and shows you, gives you the advice to practice.
What one needs to do is not just by mere word, but one should listen to his advice listen to him and take his advice and practice in the way one has been instructed. So by doing a following his advice and doing a proper practice, the actual Dharma will come into one’s mind stream. Yes, then so when one generates the proper generates the teaching or the Dharma within one’s mind in one’s mind stream, that Dharma will help ones to overcome or eliminate all negativities and will help you to generate the good qualities which are not developed. The knowledge developed will make it stable and also it helps to increase one’s knowledge. So whenever one develops the Dharma in one’s mind stream, then at that moment one becomes Sangha or one of the spiritual community.
By becoming a member of spiritual community, one should take step by step and then follow the practice. So, in this case, the most important thing is that one has to do a good practice. So, one needs to do the main, the most important thing is that one has to do a proper practice. By doing a proper practice, it helps to increase one’s qualities, good qualities, and will minimize or reduce the negativities. At this stage what we have at the moment is that we have a very small amount of good qualities and have a huge amount of negativities, which means as Rinpoche has said, there is no good, just big big.
So what we need to do is we need to increase that small amount of good qualities and make them increase it and by increasing the good qualities the amount of the negative deeds or bad qualities will minimize or reduce and gradually it comes to the end or it ceases. By bringing all these negativities into to the end, then one perfected all the good qualities, which means one is Buddha. So this is this is Buddha. So what the Buddha actually is that he perfected all the good qualities and and abandoned all the negative making oneself as Buddha is entirely in one’s hands. So if one wants to make oneself a Buddha, then should do a good practice.
So mainly, the main thing is it depends on one’s oneself and one’s practice. Summarize, it says that the qualities of Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha are immeasurable. So by developing a faith in Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha is also immeasurable. As that the faith is immeasurable, the quality gained from developing a faith becomes immeasurable. By having those immeasurable good qualities, one will have good results or a fruit which will become immeasurable.
Okay. So we’ll stop here. So, yeah, you’re going beyond the time, so we can take a couple of questions. So, yeah, he started with the Dignāgā, yeah. He’s a logician.
Yeah, he’s a logician. Yeah. Yeah. So the great master Dignāgā is the logician, and he established things by applying reason. He doesn’t only prove or establish or apply reason for all his teachings.
He also teaches to have love, compassion, and so forth. It doesn’t mean that being a logician, his teachings have been established through reason all the time. So, yeah, he’s the logician, but he also speaks of both the faith and then the logic. For us also, we need both the faith and then the reasons, applying them in combination. So there are certain persons who have only one part, which is only faith and never applies reasoning to the teaching and so forth. The great master Dignāgā here applies both. Did you get the point? Yes.
And did also Mishei say that one reinforces the other? I mean, they are both They work together. Work to each other. The Yeah. It helps each other, supports.
So it’s like one needs both reason and the faith. There are certain person which always have only one, which is the faith. That means we call it blind faith, which is the faith without knowing any reasons, without having any reason. It’s fanaticism or something. Anyway, having a faith without any reasons.
Okay? In one part, in some certain part, they don’t have faith. They have only the reasons, like going through reason all the time. For example, like scientists. They don’t have any faith but they always go through the reasons or investigations and so forth.
In Buddhist teaching what we need is we talk about both the faith and the reason. One part is having faith, we have the special quoteachings and citeachings and so forth. So it goes with the conjunction of the reason and the faith or the belief, using the spiritual quoteachings and citeachings, spiritual texts. And then one part, we go through the reasonings, which becomes like the method and the wisdom. And by conjoining those two, one goes through the teaching.
So this is the special unique figure or characteristic of the Buddhist teachings. This is what is mentioned or stated. Okay. Thank you. Yeah.
So