Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 96-minute commentary, Khensur Rinpoche uses the six consciousnesses — eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind — as the entry point for establishing that no phenomenon exists by its own nature. A flower appears to exist from its own side, but Rinpoche identifies this as a false appearance: sense powers and their objects depend on causes and conditions, so they cannot be naturally existent. An illustration of rain, snowmelt, and ocean cycles makes dependent arising vivid and concrete. He then turns to feelings, using the familiar discomfort of sitting too long to show that pleasure and pain alike arise dependently. The session builds toward a key logical move: meditating on dependent arising as the reason for emptiness directly cuts grasping — the main driver of rebirth in cyclic existence — and opens the path to liberation.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 24 PG 1991 09 03.mp3
UUID: 97198084-9bed-4c05-811c-7bd6656393cd
Teacher: Khensur Rinpoche
Collection: Precious Garland 1990-1991 (Khensur Rinpoche)
Date: 1991-09-03
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 96.4 minutes
Words: ~1,363
Just as a child is said to be born, dependent on father and mother, so a consciousness is said to arise depending upon a sense and a form. The object of the body consciousness which is tangible phenomena or objects of touch, and the object of mental consciousness which is the phenomenon constituent. Six constituents which are these six consciousnesses. There’s the eye consciousness, that is to say that which sees form. The ear consciousness, that which hears sounds.
The nose consciousness, that which smells odors. The tongue consciousness, that which tastes flavours. The bodily consciousness, that which experiences touch. Then there is the mental consciousness. In the lower Abhidharma systems, there is the great exposition sūtra and the Mahāyāna Abhidharma.
They said that the objects other factors. Just as a child does not exist by way of its own nature, likewise the consciousness does not exist by way of its own nature. That if there were no just because something appears to us, it doesn’t necessarily exist the way it appears. For example, the flower. The flower appears to exist from its own side, without being posited by the mind.
But just because it appears that way doesn’t mean it exists that way. In fact, this is a false appearance. This appearance is a false appearance. The flower appears to naturally exist to the eye consciousness. And this appearance is brought about by the imprints or predisposition for objects to appear as naturally existent, as though forms, sounds, tastes, etc.,
But these sense powers and the objects are dependently existent because they have causes. Because they have causes, they cannot be naturally existent. They rely upon former and subsequent causes. The causes are composites. The sense power on the basis rely upon composite causes.
The causes have parts, What is the final ultimate cause of the ocean? Due to the presence of heat on the ocean, there arise vapors from the ocean which form clouds. And these clouds then proceed to to produce snow and wind, which then flow down and form the ocean. But there are places where there isn’t ocean but there’s no rain. And there are places where it doesn’t rain but there’s flowing water.
And this is because there’s snow further up. In those regions where there’s a drought in Tibet, they would offer ritual rites to the nagas. And by means of that, then they would form clouds and rain would come. They have their former and latter moments. They depend upon causes and conditions.
Therefore, the various elements are dependent arising. They are reliant upon other factors for their establishment. They are not independently existent. They are not truly existent. They are not naturally existent.
It’s because feelings are established simultaneous with the factors of perception, thought constructions, consciousness, and contact, that they are not naturally existent. The lower Abhidharma systems hold that there is a grouping of mental factors called the five object-determining mental factors. These other four arise simultaneous with feelings, the other four being discrimination, attention, contact, and mental application. Feelings are held to be not naturally existent by our own system, that is the Prāsaṇgika Madhyamaka school. The reason is as follows: because feelings arise simultaneously with these other four mental factors, these other four are assisting, so there is no independent generation of feelings.
Therefore, feelings are established through reliance upon others. They are not independently existing, therefore cannot be naturally existing. That is to say the absence of strong physical suffering is experienced as a pleasurable feeling. But as suffering gradually increases, pleasure of feeling will disappear until we experience fear of suffering. As the suffering begins to lessen, likewise happiness begins to reappear.
So there is this fluctuation between pleasurable feelings which is an absence of pain and as the pain increases, the absence of pleasure, we don’t experience the pain and we no longer experience pleasure. So pleasure arises from time to time because it is reliant upon causes and conditions. Therefore it is dependent arising. But only dependent arising, it cannot naturally exist. Initially when we sit down, we experience some physical pleasure out of sitting.
Slowly after a while, maybe ten or fifteen minutes, we begin to experience the pain of sitting. So we decide to get back up. Pleasure arises in dependence upon causes and conditions. The suffering arises in dependence upon causes and conditions. But neither is a factor which exists independently but exists in dependence upon something other than themselves, for their existence, therefore they are not naturally existent.
That is to say, no phenomena has an intrinsic identity, but they all are reliant upon causes and conditions, their parts, and therefore are dependent arisings, and therefore do not naturally exist. So all phenomena are not naturally existent. Why? There is only reason dependent arising. Therefore, by the power of dependent arising we are able to assert that nothing exists naturally.
And it is in terms of this that if we cultivate the reasoning: phenomena are dependently arising, therefore they are not naturally existent — this constitutes meditation on emptiness. Through the reason of dependent on arising in our meditation, thereby realizing emptiness, we are able to abandon craving and grasping which bind us to cyclic existence. Then it is not necessary to take rebirth within cyclic existence. And why is this? The main causes for rebirth within cyclic existence are karma and afflictive emotions.
And within afflictive emotion, it is mainly the factor of grasping, which is the fault causing rebirth within cyclic existence. So this grasping attachment is the main cause due to which we continue to circle within cyclic existence. By abandoning karma and afflictive emotions, then we will no longer suffer within cyclic existence. Without the abandonment of attachment, aside from the case of the bodhisattva, we will continue to remain within cyclic existence. The factor which brings about the result of rebirth within cyclic existence is the action or the karma of grasping.
Grasping is actually the generator or the establisher. The actual action of planting the seeds is karma or action. Just as the farmer acts to bring about the action of planting the seeds, likewise ignorance acts as a motivating force due to which we accumulate actions. But these actions which have been created, without this potential of those karmic seeds being activated, they will not produce a result. And the factor that activates that potential to produce that result is grasping. Grasping.
There will be no suffering whatsoever. That which directly brings about the cessation of grasping is the realization of emptiness. That which brings about indirectly the cessation of grasping is the determination to be free or renunciation. What’s that question? Have a few minutes.
So the same is the contact. So there’s contact. So when, for example, when the eye consciousness sees the flower, there is contact. The consciousness doesn’t have to touch the flower. By seeing the flower, we see it, there is contact.
The dream consciousness sees a color in the dream and that is contact. Likewise in the course of a dream, these appearances, there might be good appearances, bad appearances, or neutral appearances. If they’re good appearances, then they will arise in our dream pleasurable feelings, bad appearances, unpleasurable feelings, and neutral appearances, and different feelings. The color which appears in the dream is an external phenomenon. You can’t say it’s an internal phenomenon.
It’s a phenomenon which is taken by the mental consciousness. Because rather than writing, composing, painting out of attachment, there are many cases where these are done out of compassion. But an objector might say: dependent upon causes and conditions, they’re established from their own side and therefore they’re naturally existing. Because they’re established by causes and conditions, they’re established from their own side, and therefore they’re naturally existing. Is that okay?
Yeah. Next Thursday — this Thursday, the day after tomorrow — for those who have received the Highest Yoga Tantra initiation and empowerment, we will be able to do a short teaching on the six-session prayer. So will take place the day after tomorrow. If you haven’t received an empowerment, you can attend.