Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 98-minute talk, Khensur Rinpoche opens with a verse from Buddha Śākyamūni on the immense merit of cultivating bodhicitta, then moves to the session’s central concern: dismantling self-grasping ignorance. Using a rope-snake analogy and the vivid example of being falsely accused of theft — the moment a solid, independent ‘I’ blazes up in self-defense — he traces how misconceiving the aggregates and the self as inherently existent drives karma, rebirth, and all suffering. He then explains that all phenomena, from bodies and flowers to the differing climates of countries, exist only through conceptual imputation rather than from their own side, drawing on Nāgārjuna’s authoritative commentary on emptiness. A short Q&A addresses whether emptiness itself can be absent and why that framing risks nihilism. Suited to practitioners with some grounding in Buddhist philosophy.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 19 LMT 1997 09 16.mp3
UUID: 08390d86-299c-429e-acf0-7943042bceeb
Teacher: Khensur Rinpoche
Collection: Lojong Mind Training (Khensur Rinpoche)
Date: 1997-09-16
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 98.0 minutes
Words: ~5,038
So it’s necessary that first we adjust our motivation, developing as our motivation for listening to this teaching of Dharma, and for its explanation that of the awakened heart. Quoting a verse from Buddha Śākyamūni where he says, that even to cultivate the awakened heart for five minutes, if the skillful action of that meditation were to have form, it would not be able to fit in all of space. That this is the tremendous benefit to be derived from such a meditation. But not only do we accumulate a vast amount of creative potential, but we correspondingly purify a vast amount of negativities. So initially the development of the awakened heart is preceded by the cultivation of love and compassion.
Compassion expressed in the thought, It would be wonderful if my self and all sentient beings were free of suffering and the causes of suffering. And love expressed in the thought, it would be wonderful if my self and all sentient beings had happiness and the causes of happiness. But we don’t stop there. We go on to develop an exceptional resolve which is embodied in the thought that I myself will lead all living beings to a state where they experience freedom from suffering and where they have consummate happiness. But this exceptional resolve is a tremendously kind hearted attitude.
It is not sufficient to achieve our end. If we, at present, we simply don’t have the ability whereby to lead all sentient beings to a state where they are free from suffering, where they experience complete happiness, And it is necessary to go on to understand that only an individual who has completely rid their minds of all their various faults, who has brought to consummation their excellent qualities can actually do this, in fact. In order to attain such an ability whereby I can actually lead all sentient beings to a state of freedom from suffering and where they experience consummate happiness. That I myself must attain that state of freedom from all faults and where all of my excellent qualities have been brought to consummation. And the aspiration to achieve just that end is the awakened heart.
And in order to achieve that end, I am going to listen to this present teaching on the essence of the universal vehicle, the presentation of the view of emptiness. Having listened to it, I will reflect upon it. Having reflected upon it, I will meditate upon it in order to put its results into vast practice. Quoting from a verse where it points out the necessity for an accumulation of creative potential in order to gain a realization of emptiness. creative potential which is equivalent to skillful actions, an accumulation of which is necessary if we are to gain an understanding of emptiness.
Those who have little accumulation of creative potential will not even develop a doubt with regards to emptiness. They won’t even understand its word, emptiness, what it might mean. But those who have even a slight accumulation of creative potential, they will go on to develop a doubt with regard to it, a wavering mind which questions whether things are empty or not, and they will gradually go on to gain an actual realization and thereby gain freedom from cyclic existence. In order to gain an authentic realization of emptiness, it is necessary that we rely upon authentic teachings. With the teachings of the various discourses as taught by the Buddha in the Middle Turning of the Wheel of the Perfection of Wisdom, such texts as Root Wisdom by Nāgārjuna, Entering into the Middle Way by Candrakīrti,
If we can gain even a doubt with regard to emptiness and dependence upon these authentic texts, we will go on to gain the realization of emptiness which is tremendously beneficial. Though we may not be able to study vast, the extensive text, the vast teachings on this subject, we can look at such abbreviated texts as the Heart of Wisdom Sūtra, which has as its main teaching emptiness. It is from the perfection of wisdom discourses of the turning, of the middle turning of the wheel. If we read it again and again and reflect upon its meaning, even that will implant latencies in our mind whereby to gain realization in the future. We want to free ourselves from suffering to find happiness and therefore it’s necessary that we liberate ourselves from cyclic existence.
And the root of all our suffering, the root of cyclic existence is ignorance. Without the wisdom realizing emptiness, there’s no way that we can There is no other means to eliminate ignorance. In gaining freedom from cyclic existence, it’s necessary that we ourselves make the effort. We must rely upon ourselves to achieve this end. There’s no other way to gain freedom from cyclic existence.
We can’t depend upon others having gained freedom from cyclic existence and tag along with them. It is only ourselves, through our own efforts, who can free ourselves from cyclic existence. Buddha Śākyamūni says that we ourselves are our own protector and that we ourselves are our own enemy. It is very much dependent upon our own minds and the efforts that we make in developing our own minds. Though the Three Jewels assist us in our training through their showing the path, it’s still necessary for ourselves to make the effort in practice.
Without this practice, then there is nothing to be done, and we will continue to be our own worst enemy. That ultimately it is up to us to become our own refuge from our own suffering. So it is said that one is one’s own protector, one is one’s own enemy. So when we speak of an enemy by way of worldly conventions, simply mean someone who harms ourselves. And on the other hand, if those who benefit us are seen to be our friends.
So we are these are just simply the way in which we use these words in the world. And therefore, we can see from this that we are both we can both be a friend to ourselves or an enemy to ourselves by by by benefiting ourselves or harming ourselves. It’s necessary that we have loving compassion for ourselves. How is it that we can express our love and compassion for ourselves? By looking upon ourselves and seeing our own suffering and developing a sincere wish that we be free of suffering and the causes of suffering, we are expressing our compassion for ourselves.
And by looking to the fact that we want happiness and wishing ourselves that happiness and the causes of happiness, we are expressing love for ourselves. Quite often we don’t express love and compassion for ourselves. On the contrary, we become our own worst enemies. And how is that? Because simply for some passing pleasure of this life, in order to experience that, we will willingly cause harm to others, we will abuse others, we will kill creatures and steal others’ possessions.
Let us say, in a brief form, for some slight passing pleasure, we will harm others through our activities of body, speech, mind. Harming others in this way is an unskillful action which can only bring ourselves suffering in the future. So involving ourselves in perpetually involving ourselves in various negative actions will only bring ourselves the result suffering results that which we do not desire, that we don’t want. It is that what we it is simply that which we call an enemy, someone who brings us what is that we don’t want, suffering. So we become our own enemy.
We are continually undergoing experiences of suffering, all the various classifications of suffering, whether they be birth, aging, disease and death, meeting with the undesired, be bereft of that which we want. That all of this comes about through past negative actions, past unskillful actions, and it is only our ourselves who are responsible for having created the causes of these suffering. It isn’t others who bring us suffering. You know, we all have healthy bodies, good bodies. We have food, clothing, companions.
We have a degree of happiness. And all of this happiness that we we’re now able to experience is the result of skillful actions that we’ve accumulated in previous lives. And it is in this way that we become our own protector. On the other hand, all of the suffering that we undergo is the result of unskillful actions that we’ve accumulated in our past lives. And it is this accumulator of negative actions who is our enemy.
Presently, we can involve ourselves in various activities whereby to bring ourselves future happiness, that we can achieve a future happiness and prosperity, we can attain human life in the future, freedom from cyclic existence, we can attain Buddhahood, that we have the basis in this life to achieve these ends. If we, in the course of this life, we cease harming others, we seek to benefit others, we develop a kind heart and practice Dharma well, then all of these ends will arise in the future. It is in this way that we become our own protector, that we become our own refuge. So it is the object of our practice, of our studies, all the various hardships that we involve ourselves in, of our various practices of listening to the teachings, reflecting upon them, meditating, such that in the future we are able to experience happiness, that we won’t have to suffer. If we make effort in this way, then we can assure ourselves of these future results.
Most importantly, in the course of this life, we should create the causes for rebirth as a human again in the future. And this we can most be assured of by developing compassion, by benefiting others, we can be assured of a human rebirth. Who is it that has brought us suffering in the past? Who is it that brings is bringing us suffering in the present and who will continue to bring suffering to ourselves in the future? It is not other people.
It is the ignorance of self grasping within our own minds. Previously, to our listening to the dharma, we looked to others as the cause of our suffering. We looked to the external world for the source of our problems. But this, in fact, it is nothing outside of ourselves which is the source of our problems, which is the causes of our suffering. So the way that we can proceed in our Dharma practice is first listening to the teachings on what it is that is harming ourselves, what it is that benefits ourselves, and investigating for ourselves, and identifying what is the bringer of harm to ourselves and putting an end to that, and investigating for ourselves what is it that helps us, what is it that benefits ourselves, identifying that, cultivate that more and more.
According a verse by Nāgārjuna where he says, So long as the aggregates are misconceived as I, as so long as the aggregates are misconceived an I is misconceived upon them. If conception of I exists, there is action which results in birth. In terms of the followers of those who followed the Buddha and their explanations, within Buddhism we can trust in the explanation of emptiness, Nāgārjuna, in explaining emptiness in accordance with the teachings of the Buddha. That we can trust the teachings, the explanation of emptiness as taught by Nāgārjuna. Why is it that we mainly rely upon the teachings of Nāgārjuna as the reliable source for the teachings on emptiness?
Before his passing, before the Buddha’s passing, he was asked by his gathered disciples, Upon your passing, who can we rely upon to explain emptiness in an unerring fashion? And the Buddha prophesied the birth in the western direction of a being who would be able to unerringly commentate or explain his teachings on emptiness, and this being was Nāgārjuna. So in this verse that we just quoted from Precious Garland, it says that as long as the aggregates are misconceived So by the aggregates I meant the five aggregates. The aggregate of forms, feelings, perceptions, compositional factors, and consciousnesses. As long as these five aggregates are misperceived there will arise the misconception grasping at a truly existent I.
By misconceived it means that the aggregates are conceived to truly exist. As long as we conceive the aggregates to truly exist, there will be grasping at a truly existent eye. So therefore there are two types of ignorance being set out here. There is ignorance which conceives of the aggregates as truly existent, and the dependence upon that, the ignorance which conceives of the person to truly exist. So when we when it says the misconception with regard to the I, the self, so there is ignorance grasping at a truly existent I, self.
What this means is that the I is conceived to not depend upon anything other than outside of itself. That it is grasped to be truly existent, independently existent. This in dependence upon the misconception of a truly existent I, the misconception of a truly existent mine, M I N E, arises. Such as, we think of my eye, my nose, my arms, my legs. So the I, which is merely imputed to the five aggregates, which is merely labeled to the five aggregates, is grasped to independently exist.
This or to exist by way of its own nature. This induces a grasping at a truly existent mind. Out of this grasping at a truly existent mind, M I N E, there arises the various afflictive emotions such as attachment and hatred and pride and jealousy. Out of these various, Motivated by these various afflictive emotions, we go on to create karma and unskillful actions. The I wants to be happy.
It thinks we have this recurrent thought, I, I, I, and moreover, this I wishes for pleasure. This I wants to be made happy. But the I of itself cannot find happiness. In and of itself, it cannot be made happy. It is reliant upon its pleasure.
It is reliant for its pleasure upon mine, m I n e. In what way is it reliant upon mine for its pleasure? For example, suppose you want to hear beautiful music, and therefore it’s necessary that you have an ear. You have to have if you have no ear, then there’s then you’re deaf, and there’s no way that you can hear the eye can experience the pleasure beautiful music. So you have to have my ear, you have to own an ear.
Or likewise, if you want to see beautiful shapes about you, you have to have my eyes, which which can bring the eye the pleasure of beautiful forms. Without my eyes, I cannot experience the happiness of beautiful forms. Without my nose, I can’t experience the pleasure of fragrant smells. Without my tongue, I can’t experience the delicious taste of food. Without my body, I can’t experience sensual, physical pleasures, tactile pleasures.
So the I experiences happiness in dependence upon what is mine. So because the I experiences all of its pleasures via mine, by way of mine, my eyes, my nose, it hears wonderful sounds by way of my ears, it develops great attachment for what is mine. It is in this way that we accumulate karma. The consciousness is likened to a field, and karma are likened to seeds which are planted in the field. Attachment is like the watering of those seeds, and out of this we develop new aggregates.
We acquire new aggregates in the future. So it is through this process that we go on to acquire a new set of aggregates. The years and months, but eventually, because they are momentarily arising and disintegrating, disintegrating, eventually they deteriorate and they become exhausted. And due to the force the previously created karma and the nurturing condition of attachment, we will go on to acquire a new set of aggregates. And this process continues on and on in this way.
This is what constitutes cyclic existence. All that is undesired in terms of our experience has at its root ignorance, the ignorance of self grasping. That is to say, the misconception with regard to the true existence of the aggregate and the misconception with regard to the true existence of I. If we implement a method whereby to bring an end to ignorance, we can bring it to a halt. Having stopped ignorance, we no longer create the causes of suffering.
No longer having creating the causes of suffering, we no longer experience suffering. We only experience happiness. So it is first necessary that we identify well what ignorance is. Then we go into question, how can ignorance be brought to an end? In answering that, we have to identify what is the object of ignorance?
What is the object of observation? What is ignorance observing? If we can eliminate the object of which ignorance is observing, then we can stop ignorance. If we cannot, then we cannot stop ignorance. So the term which is being generally translated, which normally is translated as ignorance, could more literally be translated as unknowing or a misknowing.
And so there is a knowing and a misknowing, an understanding and a misunderstanding. So there is ignorance which observes the aggregates and ignorance which observes the eye which is imputed to the aggregates. Between these two, it is ignorance which observes the eye which is imputed to the aggregates, which is the worst in terms of accumulating karma. So in order to identify ignorance well, think we it would be made easier if we made use of an analogy. So in this analogy is explained as follows.
There is It’s becoming dark. There is, for example, at the side of the path, a coil of striped rill. Since And in dependence upon the darkness and that coil of stripe will one sees a snake and exclaims, There’s a snake, there’s a snake, and develops fear. That thought, snake, is a mistaken conception, isn’t it? In fact, there’s no snake there.
The mind is superimposing a snake upon something which is not in fact a snake. So from side of the object, that is say the rope, none of the parts of the rope are a snake. The the entire collection of the coiled rope is not a snake. From the side of the object, there is nothing about it which is a snake. Likewise, if taking this analogy in terms of our present discussion of the misconception as with regard to the eye, there are the five aggregates.
Now, there does exist take an example. If someone were to call your name out, for example, they call out, Champa, and in dependence upon having your name called out, there arises in your mind, I’m being called, I’m being called. So I mean, if someone were to call to me, Kensar Mpuche, they would arise in my mind the thought, I’m being called. And likewise, the same would occur for you. If someone were to call out your name, they would appear the they would arise for you the thought, I am being called.
Upon being called and the initial arising of the thought, I’m being called, there appears to ourselves an I. This I exists. This ‘I’ creates skillful, unskillful actions, experiences happiness, experiences suffering. That ‘I’, as it first initially appears to ourselves, exists. On the other hand, if someone were to accuse us by saying, you’re a thief, then they would arise quite a different type of mind.
So the I which appears to us simply on having our name called in the first case, and the I which appears to us when we’re called a thief are quite different. In the latter case, having been called a thief, the eye will appear to ourselves not to rely upon the aggregates. It appears to exist of itself independently. Having been accused of being a thief, there arises thoughts in our minds such as, I’m not a thief, I didn’t do anything wrong. The I in that context will appear to exist independent, concrete, very solid, not relying upon anything other outside of itself.
I didn’t do anything. So that I which is appearing in that context to exist under its own power, independent, is grasped The mind which grasps at the existence of that independently existing I is ignorance misconceiving the I. So the awareness which grasps at the existence of that independently existent I is ignorance. But that I, which which appears not to depend upon the aggregates, which appears to exist independently, if we were to look, we would see that there is no such eye as any part of the aggregates nor the collection of aggregates. So the way in which the eye is being grasped at here and the way in which the snake was being grasped at in terms of the rope are exactly the same.
So the grasping at the eye, which exists independent of the aggregates, is analogous to the grasping at the snake which appeared in terms of the rope. That conceiving of a snake, conceiving as a snake, conceiving the rope as a snake is mistaken awareness. There is nothing about the object which is in fact a snake. Likewise, in terms of the meaning of the analogy is that there appears an inherently existent I. There is nothing about the aggregates which are an inherently existent eye.
But it’s just the same as seeing a rope as a snake. We see the aggregates as an inherently existent eye, I think, and grasp as it to exist the way it appears. So these two states of mind are similar in that they are both mistaken. That is to say, conceiving of a rope as a snake and conceiving of an eye independent of the aggregates. In the case of the analogy, because it was dark, we misconceived a rope to be a snake.
We thought, in fact, there was a snake when there was none. So, by eliminating the darkness through light, we come to understand the actual nature of the object, we understand the nonexistence of the snake with regard to the rope, the nonexistence of the snake with regard to the rope. One would go on to think, Ah, I was mistaken. There really wasn’t a snake there after all. So having been called a thief, we there arises the thought, I’m not a thief in our minds, and I appears very strongly.
That I appears to us not to depend for its existence upon the aggregates, then the awareness which grasps at the existence of that eye, exists in dependence upon its aggregates, is ignorance. How can we overcome this ignorance which is grasping at the existence of an independently existed I? There are various reasonings that we can set forth, such as the reasoning of same indifference or dependent arising. But one way we can begin to, which is of great use, is to understand how the person is imputedly existent. The Buddha taught that all phenomena whatsoever are merely imputed by means of names and conceptuality.
That there is no phenomena whatsoever that exists from its own side. That all phenomena depend for their existence on being imputed or labeled or designated by terms and conceptuality. So it’s So in talking about how all phenomena are merely imputed, we can take as an example, you know, outside of the, above the human realm is a celestial realm inhabited by celestial beings. And there’s tremendous pleasure, they experience tremendous pleasures. They have beautiful flowers, they have homes made of gold and silver.
Everything is extremely beautiful there. So this is a it’s an enchanted land full of beautiful flowers and fruits and lakes full of jewels and turquoise lakes. It’s everything is precious and elegant. So all of these great wonders, all of what is so very good is all merely imputed by terms and conceptuality. None of it exists from its own side.
So all whatsoever is merely imputed. Good is merely imputed by conceptuality. Bad is merely imputed by conceptuality. Happiness is merely imputed by conceptuality. Suffering is merely imputed by conceptuality.
Buddha, sentient beings, are merely imputed by conceptuality. There is nothing whatsoever that does not rely upon being labeled, designated, imputed by terms and conceptuality. There is nothing that exists from its own side. The good is merely good through having been imputed as good by conceptuality. The bad is bad merely by being imputed by a conceptuality imputing bad.
Fortunate realms are fortunate rebirths, unfortunate rebirths are merely that through being imputed as that by conceptuality. All of the various elements, earth, water, fire, and wind energy exist in dependence upon being imputed for what they are by conceptuality. This applies to all things whatsoever. Nothing whatsoever exists from its own side. So the environment and the beings therein all arise dependent upon being imputed by conceptuality.
But all the environment and beings therein arise dependent upon causes, and these causes are in turn exist in dependence upon being imputed by conceptuality. So there is the imputed causes which give rise to the variety of the environment, the imputing minds which impute upon those causes. So there are these two varieties of conceptualities imputing those which impute the causes and those which impute the objects. So, for example, my body, it is established through conceptuality. How is that?
Because I, this body arose in dependence upon karma and the creation of this karma was motivated by ignorance. Ignorance is concept. Therefore, even my own body arose through conceptuality. And this applies equally to all of our bodies, all of your bodies. So the point which is being gotten at here is that we ourselves as sentient beings come into existence in dependence upon ignorance.
But this applies equally to the outside world. It too arises in dependence upon ignorance. It arises in dependence upon karma. Even by way of example, the place of Australia, it arose independence, it arose in dependence upon the collective karma of the sentient beings who abide there. But this applies to all the various countries of the world.
For example, Russia, which has extremely cold weather. This cold weather and its existence arises in in dependence upon the governing result of the collective karma of the beings who abide there. The same applies to India where the weather is very hot. Likewise, this hot weather and the very very place arises, in dependence upon the the karma of those who abide there. So the environment is dependent is comes into existence in dependence upon the collective karma of the sentient beings who live there.
But what is not shared in terms of your environment, which is particular to you, is your uncommon karma. So karma arises in dependence upon cause, the cause being ignorance. Ignorance is a concept. Therefore, we can say that all phenomena whatsoever arise in dependence upon concepts. And I’ll stop there for the day.
So we’ll take a few minutes for questions. Yes. Does the non-existence of emptiness exist? Is there anything which is not empty? Tantra$1.
Two Tantra$1. The an absence of emptiness. So all phenomena are empty. So when we say emptiness, we mean emptiness of inherent existence and there is no phenomenon which is not empty of inherent existence. Don’t we don’t mean when you said said, when we say empty, we don’t mean nothing.
Is it possible to experience an absence of emptiness in meditation? thinking about the nonexistence of emptiness is not proper meditation. No, wasn’t thinking about it. Is it possible to experience the absence of emptiness? You could experience that, but it would be a wrong consciousness.
No good. Useful to cultivate the understanding that body has an absence of inherent existence, or the I has an absence of inherent existence, not that emptiness has an absence of existence. So, you know, we could proceed in a meditation, for example, by reflecting upon how the body is merely imputed by name. The name body is imputed, in dependence upon being imputed, it comes into existence. The body does not exist from its own side.
It does not exist without having been imputed by means of this name. To simply think and cultivate the understanding of the non inherent existence of the body. To simply think of the absence of emptiness would not be of any use. One could fall to the extreme of nihilism, that one could think in terms of the aggregates, that the body is merely imputed in terms of the aggregates, that the body does not exist from its own side, that there is nothing which is not merely imputed by means of names. So we could begin to approach an easy understanding of the subject if we’re taking the example of a flower.
When the we can easily understand that the flower arises in dependence upon a coming together of various causes and conditions. We need a seed, the earth, water, soil. Dependent upon these, the flower comes into existence. But when we look at the flower, the way the flower appears to us is as if it didn’t depend upon anything outside of itself, as if it didn’t depend upon the collection of these causes and conditions such as earth, seed, water, etc. That’s the way the flower appears to us.
And we can easily understand that the flower but when we think about it, the flower does not exist the way it’s appearing. It appears not to exist in dependence upon causes and conditions, but we can readily understand it does. So it appears to exist from its own side, but in fact it doesn’t exist from its own side. It does not truly exist because it does not exist the way it appears. The flower is if it truly existed, then it would exist independent of everything else.
But we can understand that the flower’s existence depends upon other factors outside of itself.