Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 98-minute Lamrim session, Khensur Rinpoche opens with a tree-root image: saṃsāra ends only by severing its cause, not trimming its surface branches. Working through the Second Noble Truth, he traces that cause from disturbing emotions back to ignorance and grasping at true existence, drawing on Nāgārjuna’s analysis and an arrow-and-target metaphor for the wisdom realizing emptiness. He explains in concrete detail how anger and attachment arise in the mind, outlines Vasubandhu’s three causes of disturbing emotions, and urges applying antidotes the moment an emotion first appears — before it gains power. A Q&A closes when a student asks whether Rinpoche’s advice to “compassionately hit” a persistently difficult visitor is serious, sparking a frank and unexpectedly humorous exchange about Bodhisattva action and the limits of patience.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 31 LR 1999 10 19.mp3
UUID: 11f51e9b-d34c-4896-b357-82e552577ac6
Teacher: Khensur Rinpoche
Collection: Lam Rim (Khensur Rinpoche)
Date: 1999-10-19
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 98.0 minutes
Words: ~4,965
That’s what you said. Come on. Our practice of giving, teaching, listening, contemplation and meditation will become more effective if it is being done through along with the mind of altruistic intention or bodhicitta. As we do not wish suffering and want happiness, likewise, all motherly sentient beings as limitless as space are likewise wishing happiness and do not want suffering. So at this stage, we have attained this precious human rebirth and also have knowledge to understand or reason to understand the teachings.
So here one should develop a great compassion that wishing that others be free from suffering and then we will that our will free them from the sufferings. And also should develop a love towards both oneself others that both oneself and others have all the happiness. And so these two, the compassion and love are called the altruism or intention to help others. On top of it, just develop love and compassion, one should also have to should develop a special insight taking the resolution that I will help them and bring them to have all the happiness. So at this stage, one has developed those special intentions, special ones like the compassion, love and and special insight.
But if an examine examines oneself or make check oneself, that one will came to know that at this stage, hasn’t have the ability to to overcome all and to to overcome all the sufferings of both oneself and others and bring them to a state of ultimate ultimate happiness. But if asked, if we are where will we be? If asked whether we can attain that ability or not, then we can attain or obtain that ability. So at this stage, we don’t have that ability. It is because we are we are obscured or we are obscured by the full of negativities within oneself.
And so if one tries to eliminate or prevent or purify that obscuration, one can eventually attain or find that ability. So we can attain that ability because within oneself or ourselves that we have the mind which does not truly inhere in existence, that it has the ability of realizing the the true nature, realizing emptiness and that mind of realizing emptiness is the one which attempts enlightenment. So in order to let that mind or realizing emptiness to attain the enlightenment, state of enlightenment, of Buddhahood, at this stage, it is it is being it it it mind cannot attain enlightenment because it’s been disturbed by the disturbed by the disturbing emotion and its latency. So whenever one purifies or abandons all the disturbing emotions and its latencies, then that mind becomes enlightened and purified, and you can attain the enlightened state. So so here, I want to divert the motivation to that that in order to attain enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings, I shall abandon all the negativities and attain all the good qualities.
For that purpose, here, listen to this Lamrim teaching, which is the teaching of Mahāyāna or great vehicle, and also bring all the hearings into the contemplation and meditation. Through this, I bring great help towards Buddhism and others. We shall do a short meditation here. So we’ve been dealing on on through the four noble truths. And here and now on to the second noble truth, which is the origin of true origin of the suffering.
And here, the great master Tsongkhapa has stated that if one does not understand the true origin, which is the entrance towards the cyclic existence, then one will not be able to cut the root of the cyclic existence, which here means to in order to to so in order to stop circling in the cyclic existence, one one one one must know the root of the root of the root of the cyclic existence. So without knowing so without without recognizing the two origin of the cyclic, one will not able to cut the rid of the cyclic existence. It will it is like the the the cutting to to chop down a tree. If one if one cuts the root of the tree, then tree the tree itself will eventually become dry and will fall by itself. If if just or if or yeah.
If if one cuts the cut just the branches or the branches of the trees, then it will never, you know, dry and gradually it grows. So, likewise, in order to abandon or abandon all the sufferings, one one one should try to understand the will of the sufferings. So the root of the suffering is the true origin of the true origin of the suffering. So to hear the true origin of the sufferings are the disturbing emotion and the action. And also the great master Nāgārjuna has stated that liberation is attained when one abandons the disturbing emotion and the action, here action refers to the action which bind us in cyclic existence.
And also says that liberation is attained when one abandons the action and disturbing emotions. It also says that the disturbing emotion and the actions come from wrong conceptions or thoughts. So here, the wrong conceptions or thoughts refer to the thought conceptions like accepting impermanent things as permanent, and unhappiness as happiness, and impure as pure, and grasping at non-inherent existence as inherent existence.
So he said that the disturbing emotion and actions comes from thoughts And thought is produced through the elaboration of grasping inherent existence or true existence. So in order to get rid of all those thoughts, one has to cut the link of the elaboration of grasping at truly existent. And how it how it can be done is that whenever one one has to cut the elaboration through the wisdom through realizing emptiness. So by recognizing or realizing emptiness, one cuts all the elaborations of the true existence and thoughts and disturbing emotions. And also, the person who does not realize emptiness will not attain liberation through this body.
To prove this that will not attain in our liberation if one does not realize the emptiness, It is because because if one doesn’t realize the emptiness, then the opposite of wisdom realizing emptiness, which is the the the the mind of grasping true true existence, which are which are disturbing emotions, and it will not cease and due to that, one will not attain the liberation. Here, it shows that one has to try to recognize the disturbing emotions which keep up the cyclic existence, that which binds us or lets us circle in the cyclic existence. So here, one should try to recognize the root of the cyclic existence: the two origins are all actions and the disturbing emotions. And within it, the main one is the disturbing emotion. It is because so the saṃsāra or cyclic existence produced by disturbing emotion and action, and action comes from the disturbing emotion and disturbing emotion comes from the root of the cyclic existence, which is the ignorance, the self grasping attitude.
So the realizing of emptiness here is like an arrow. And to to to shoot that to shoot that arrow of this realizing emptiness, first, one one has to see the target where the arrow should be shot. And without knowing without without seeing the target, then one one cannot hit the one cannot shoot the yeah. One cannot shoot the arrow. So here, the the the the the seeing or or knowing where the target is is very important.
So so in order to in order to shoot that the arrow nicely first one, yeah, one one it’s important for one to to realize or know way or to see where the target is. So, otherwise, to abandon the cyclic existence, first one, it’s important to realize the root of the cyclic existence or saṃsāra. And here, the the root of the cyclic existence is is the is the disturbing emotion. And so which which comes here which comes that we we here we are here to that we need to examine or look for we we need to examine what is disturbing emotion. So the disturbing emotion is not something very external, something outside or external.
It is disturbing emotion located or situated within one’s mind stream. So to realize the disturbing emotion, one should examine one’s mind stream and check how this disturbing emotion comes or arises within oneself. So how does how those disturbing emotions mean, arises or produce comes within mind. It is like this way that while one is in one’s mind is in the state of peace and calm, so while in that state, suddenly, through the power of some external conditions, the mind’s peace is disturbed and the mind is suddenly disturbed by that external condition.
And due to that, instantly or immediately, this disturbing emotion is produced in one’s mind. So when we say the disturbing emotion is produced within one’s mind, so that that that implies that disturbing emotion is a result. So as it is a result, it has both the conditions and the causes which produce the disturbing emotion. So as it is, the disturbing emotion is produced by the its causes and conditions and but that doesn’t mean that that doesn’t mean that the disturbing emotion which is developed or produced within one’s mind is not the disturbing emotion of others’ minds’ So how that disturbing emotion is produced in one’s mind is that its causes are that from beginningless time, our mind has been very familiarized or acquainted with the disturbing emotion. Due to that, our mind is very much used towards the disturbing emotion and due to that, it acts as a causes towards the disturbing emotion and its condition could be many.
There are many conditions for disturbing emotions. By gathering of the causes and the condition, the disturbing emotion is eventually produced within one’s mind. For example, the anger, for example, how one develops anger. So one is in a very peaceful and calm state and one’s mind has been very peaceful. Just after that, due to this some external conditions, like the gesture of some people or hearing some harsh words or people staring at you.
And by mixing to that those unpleasant gestures or words, one one certainly be disturbed and becomes the the all the peaceful state of mind is being destroyed and it’s being shaken and one gets one loses all the peace and get developed anger. So at that stage, one’s mind has been disturbed and and it’s not in in any yeah. It it it lose it lost all its peace peace their peaceful moments and they have a very anger and also also becomes uncontrolled. Due to this, one start producing a new producing a intentional thought that of of harming others by thinking, I haven’t done anything to that person, but he or she causes me I mean, he or she has did this and that without any reason and due to that, one starts thinking of harming others or taking revenge. So at this stage, whenever one has developed such kind of such type of intention or mind which is called which is the disturbing emotion and we say that one has developed a disturbing emotion because one has developed the anger at that stage.
And then, yeah, one one developed anger and one become very angry and then it’s one’s face started to become blush or red. Then wherever one lives, it becomes very unpleasant. Through the influence of this, one starts cultivating actions of body and speech: using harsh words and physically trying to harm others by using weapons. So, and if we talked about how one developed a disturbing emotion of attachment or desire, it is like, say, one is once one is in a calm and peaceful state and suddenly one saw something very beautiful appearing into one’s eyes and then towards one’s eyes and do and because of that, he acts as a condition and started but of but because of seeing that beautiful figure or appearance, and do and one mind’s been started running after after that that figure.
And through this and by this, it it becomes the conditions, and one starts exaggerating or elaborating towards that figure or appearance. So So that becomes, one starts always fixating on or infatuating the beauty of that particular object or person. Due to this, one develops attachment and then one becomes, one’s mind has become one’s mind is being under the influence or under the power of attachment and due to this, one started one’s mind always runs after that person and always thinks of that person and if it’s very strong then one cannot help oneself seeing that person. And through this, one started doing various sort of actions. So as our mind has been under the influence of attachment and previously of anger, our minds are in the negative state, being under non-virtues.
As one’s mind has been after the disturbing emotion, after negative action or non-virtues, and through this, one starts committing actions of body and speech. So here, the master Śāntideva has stated that one should train in the ethics of controlling one’s mind. And if one does not train in the ethics of controlling one’s mind, then there is no use of many other ethics, which here means that if one wants to do the meditation, always examine examine one’s mind the way where it goes and what and after after what it is after yeah. Where where it goes after yeah.
Where it goes. And every one should examine one’s mind and always if if one comes to know that one’s mind is after the disturbing emotion, hatred, anger and attachment, and if one examine one’s mind, if one come to know that one is after all those disturbing emotions, then on the spot, whenever any kind of disturbing emotions, the attachment, anger, and so forth, arises, immediately and right away, one applies the antidote towards the disturbing emotion and try to abandon it. Because whenever it first comes, the disturbing emotion first comes towards the mind, it is very small and not very powerful, which makes it easy to counteract or abandon. If one does not counteract it at that stage, then it gradually becomes powerful, more and more stronger, and then later it becomes so powerful that one is starting to get involved in the action, like killing, you know, killing humans and stealing and so forth. Likewise, Geshe Chekawa has stated in his Eight Verses of Mind Training or Eight Points of Mind Transformation.
As as stated that in in all the action, one one one should examine one’s mind. And it is because in here yeah. So in here, any action refers towards any actions of of walking, sleeping, eating, sitting, and so forth. So at any action, what it means all the time one should examine one’s mind, the way it goes. And and and and then then one will come to know when one one will easily know that that whether one mind whether one’s mind is with or developing any disturbing emotions or not.
Because whenever the disturbing emotion comes, there is the uneasy unhappiness and and and not peace or calm within one’s mind. So so whenever so whenever one come to know that that the disturbing emotion or yes, arising within one’s mind, one should aban apply antidote and and and and abandon it. Because if and if if one doesn’t do that, then it will so one should abandon it because if one does not, then it will either harm oneself or or others. It is so if you give a demonstrate example here then example, it’s like, say, someone who is very, very difficult to cope with and always causing problems or or making gossips. And and so and that person comes to your place, and you know that by talking to that person will will make gossips and make problems and so forth.
So so so in order to avoid so if you so in order to avoid that all those problems and so forth, it is better not to not to let that person come or enter enter your room just by saying or just say some very bad words. And so that that will often him or her that you will leave your place. Or or even if they still didn’t listen to you or just don’t take the word seriously, then even if it if you have no chance to hear, just go for it. And then and then just just do it once or twice, and then gradually, the it is like the person will think, alright. There’s no chances of going to his his place because he hates all the time, so better not to go there.
So, like, the person he himself or herself will avoid your place and will come to your place. So it’s likewise, one should always abandon or apply any thought or challenge towards disturbing emotion when it first comes or it comes. Because because when when disturbing emotion is not something when it comes, it comes with the weapons or with very I mean, through lots of violence. It’s it It actually comes very peacefully into one’s mind. Whenever it reaches one’s mind, then it starts becoming more difficult and rough that it produce lots of problems.
So the disturbing emotion by itself is very calm. It’s very weak here. And so one should apply an antidote or challenge to it from the very beginning when this disturbing emotion arises. And then, like that state, one can challenge or defeat the disturbing emotion as well as that disturbing emotion hasn’t got very powerful support or background. One can easily challenge or defeat the disturbing emotions.
Because the disturbing emotion hasn’t got a very powerful background or support. It is because its background or support, the disturbing emotion, is produced from the ignorance. And the ignorance itself is not very powerful because it is a mistaken view, a mistaken mind or wrong perception. So due to that, the the the both the the due to that, the both disturbing emotion and the ignorance are not powerful or yeah. So the disturbing emotion and the ignorance, by their own, are not powerful and strong.
But they are developed within our mind from beginningless time. And due to that, our mind our mind becomes so familiar with those disturbing emotions and so forth. And due to that, because of that familiarity or, yeah, or familiar familiarity or or or because of being so familiarized with those mind, it becomes quite powerful. So and how these disturbing emotions are produced or known?
What’s the causes of the disturbing emotions? And here, the the the great master Vasubandhu has set forth three types of causes for the disturbing emotions. So one of the causes is the similar type of disturbing emotion, meaning a previous disturbing emotion, which here refers to the disturbing emotions that one has become very acquainted or familiar with in the previous lives or from beginningless time. Likewise, all the disturbing emotions like hatred, attachment, and anger are produced by the previous similar type of each disturbing emotion.
For example, from the attachment previously developed or generated in the previous lives, it produces the disturbing attachment in this time. It is like seeds producing plants in this world, like flowers, trees, and so forth. For example, like the the white flower, the the seed of the white white flowers are comes from the earlier white flowers. Likewise, as a fruit or a tree, it comes from the similar type of the previous tree. So it is like all those groceries like rice, chili, and so forth.
So the the yeah. The chili comes from the chili seed and which seed that that seed comes from the chili. Likewise, the attachment comes from the attachment, which so the continuation, the attachment we produce or develop or the attachment or or the continuation of the attachment which we developed in previous times. So that is the cause. And the condition, for example, for the anger: the conditions for the anger to arise are those objects which, by contact with them, produce the anger. Those objects are called the conditions for anger. And it’s the same towards the attachment, by the object from which one develops attachment. So all those objects are like conditions to develop those disturbing emotions of attachment, anger, and so forth. Those objects are like the water and heat which act as conditions towards the seed, or conditions for the flower to grow.
Yes. Yes. And the third one is entertaining wrong thoughts, or superstitions, which produce the disturbing emotions. For example, like the anger. And, say, Because of one’s superstition or thought, one starts developing anger towards someone, which is that person is not a suitable object, it’s not appropriate person to develop anger.
But because of the certain mind, one mind’s thinking or entertaining in the wrong thoughts or in the wrong way, seeing that that that that person has harmed or harmed me and my my my relatives and and had and in the in certain time or in the past times or or in the person that’s who’s harming me or is harming or really harming the future. And because of that mind or the superstition, one produces the develops the disturbing emotion of so called anger. But in the normal sense, in actual sense, then that person is what one has developed is a mistaken one because the person to whom one developed the anger is not a right object to develop anger. It is because that person is one’s ultimate relative. We say it’s one’s best friend because because from the beginningless of the time, the person has has had because from the beginningless of the time, there is no one who hasn’t become one’s parent, hasn’t become one’s sister, one’s brother, one’s sons, or one’s daughter.
And due to that, the person is not the right person to develop anger because they are your ultimate best friends or or ultimate relatives. But but because of that superstition or thought, one can’t see those and one one and it produces the wrong wrong thought of seeing that person harming oneself or or towards one or or harming one harming the other one and so forth. So for that, the great master Candrakīrti has stated that that person is not the right object to develop anger because you have drunk the person’s milk for a very long time. And if the milk you have drunk were saved, it would be as much as the oceans.
No. Okay. We’ll stop here. Any questions? Take a few questions, one or two.
Yes, please. Andre. Okay. It’s okay. Yeah.
It’s it is like that. Buddha Śākyamūni has said for that that, say, all the entire world, the the the earth I’ll try my best. The all the entire world are like a mat. You know, they just make make make a clarify of the all entire the place or the all the earth of the entire universe system. And then that clay and make a little tiny little the rounded or peel of the say, little round.
Just pinch. You just make it into round and round like a peel. So of all entire world, which becomes huge or numberless. And and the example here is that so you have your present present mother, and that per that mother and so that mother has been your mother, not not just in this now. The per the mom has become your be or have done your mom for for numberless time.
That if you count, see, the the the numbers that that the mother has the numbers the mother has been your mom is even greater than the numbers that produced by the tiny little the pills from the clay of the earth. So so which means that so as the the person has become that that has been your mother for a numberless time, and each time you have you have had her you have done her milk. So if the milk are saved up in a container, then this becomes that that that milk will become will be more than the four sides of oceans. Mhmm. Or, yeah, or sea, actually.
Did you get it? He says this. Oh, cool. So the the meaning of the and the are the same here. Yes, please.
Geshe Chekawa, he was saying to examine your mind and continuously recognize when the disturbing emotions came and he said to abandon those emotions otherwise they’ll make you and others around you unhappy and then he gave an example he said if someone comes to your house who is really difficult or if they gossip or whatever as an example he said abandon them you know and don’t associate with them sort of like dismissing the disturbing emotions. Is he just joking there or what does he recommend when somebody who is difficult comes to your house because you know I can understand you abandoning the disturbing emotions. I think that’s good or to apply an antidote. So I don’t know if it’s good to abandon people who come to your house. So what would be the antidote to So like a person who is very difficult to cope with and always causing problems, or it’s a person who’s very contemptuous. For example, for the disturbing emotions, disturbing emotions being aroused or developed through the So, yeah, so disturbing emotion is to develop through three doors, body, speech, and mind.
Likewise, one has to shut the door. Shut the door, applying antidote means shutting the three doors through which disturbing emotions are developed. Likewise, if that person is very difficult and always causing problems, the best thing is, first what you can do is to avoid that, the problem of gossips and so forth. What one can do, the best thing is one should quietly shut the door and not open it. If the person is very stubborn and very contemptuous and still disturbing or shouting and so forth, then there are no choices.
What you can do is just open the door and use some words which really hurts that person and then get rid of him which will let him go. Or even if he still didn’t or if the person is hurt by your words, if it Still, if the person didn’t leave with such a harsh word, then what you can do is just, you have no trust, just hit him a couple of times. The person won’t return forever. But hit, which means you should not hit a person with anger. You should be hitting, hit that person with great compassion.
It means it. One has done one’s best to try and close the door, still not listening when you use harsh words, still not listening. Finally, you just feel very sorry and develop great compassion and then you couple of times. We usually say that a person is very brave, that he or she challenge the person if they can. When we fail to challenge, then run, you know, and consider that person as a very brave person.
Because if one so if one if one do not run, then which means that there’s a huge loss in one side because one cannot challenge and one cannot run. So what one gets is lost all the time. Best friends and they should teach his patience. And as Buddhists, we’re not to harm any sentient beings. And here Rinpoche is saying to hit someone so compassionately if that person doesn’t believe or understand that you’re hitting them through compassion, it just doesn’t make sense to me.
He joking? How that goes, is he joking? I said it already twice. Applying antidote or counteracting towards disturbing emotions, it’s like healing the disturbing emotion. If you have other skills rather than healing, then just go for it.
You can challenge it. Nice. Like the hitting the person, to avoid the person just said to compassionately hit the person, which means that actually if one really hit the person with great compassion, it is not really bad because there have been many Bodhisattvas. The healing is just nothing. There have been many Bodhisattvas through great compassion.
They have killed many many sentient beings. And by killing that by killing that sentient beings, I mean, that being with with great compassion, because through that, they have, I mean, cultivated a huge amount of merits from doing that. So if you really hit that person with compassion with compassionate mind, still it’s not really bad. It’s still okay. But if you do not want if you do not wish to or do not want to implement, you don’t have to because I said it in the other hand.
In the other hand, it could be just simply said it and if you don’t want to, you don’t need to take it seriously. Yeah, I can’t. Yeah, true. Actually, we should not say that attachment towards Buddhadharma and Sangha here means developing a happiness in Buddhadharma, in Sangha, and that happiness is not the attachment, it’s called the faith or belief. We cannot or we should not, or we do not develop attachment.
We develop a happiness in the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, which is the faith, which means there is no attachment. What was your first question actually? The developing attachment, right?