Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. Khensur Rinpoche opens this 90-minute public talk with a Buddha verse: enlightened beings cannot remove suffering by hand — they lead beings to happiness by showing the path they have walked. Rinpoche explains why suffering and happiness each require causes, using the analogy of planting a flower rather than merely wishing for one. The three principal delusions — attachment, hatred, and ignorance — are identified as the root of all suffering, their absence as the ground of all happiness. A vivid domestic example shows hatred overtaking a spouse — eyes red, words that wound — before Rinpoche argues that someone with spiritual understanding should direct their response toward the hatred itself rather than the person it possesses, preserving the love and compassion that leads toward bodhicitta and Buddhahood. The session closes with Q&A on karma and patience. Accessible to a general audience with no prior Buddhist background.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 11 1989 11 05 PT Joyous Effort.mp3
UUID: c516a287-2048-4999-89fa-a00f1d6bc98b
Teacher: Khensur Rinpoche
Collection: Public Talks 1988-2003 (Khensur Rinpoche)
Date: 1989-11-05
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 90.2 minutes
Words: ~3,444
Yeah. From Rinpoche’s side, he will be giving with a good heart, with a good heart intending that his teaching may be of help or benefit to you all. And as from Rinpoche’s side, he maintains that good heart, intending it to be of good help or benefit to you. Therefore, it would be quite beneficial also from your side if you maintain a good heart intending that I’m going to listen to these teachings at all so that I can be able to help other people, help others. The great compassionate master Buddha said in a verse which goes like, the Buddhas don’t, the Buddhas don’t remove the suffering of the living beings by extending his hand, nor does he wash the negativities of sentient beings by, as we normally would wash, our dirty coat. And, also, he doesn’t have sentient beings get to a higher, get to a higher level by pouring down his realization.
A great heart, actually, he leads other sentient beings to the state of happiness is by showing the path on which he has trained. So to interpret that verse, it goes in meaning like the master explains that we all live in this. All we, all the sentient beings, are equal in the sense we all equally want to get rid of our problems, misery, suffering, and we are equal in the sense that we all want to attain satisfaction, happiness, and so forth. And it also further the words explained that we are all equal in the sense we want happiness. We want satisfaction.
But is it alright? Is it just enough merely to have an aspiration? Praying, oh, may I have happiness? May I have satisfaction? And is it just enough to keep that aspiration and pray for that?
And as explained in that word, it answers — means in those words, it explains that it’s not enough just to pray and just to give it an aspiration and leave it there. And in in the same way, it is explained that it’s not just enough in terms of the suffering to be removed. It’s not just enough to have an aspiration and just make a prayer. Oh, may I not have suffering. So just to have an aspiration and just to pray is not a solution.
The real the real solution lies in firstly trying to identify from where do these sufferings, and from where do these different types of happiness which we want, from where do these actually arise. So in the course of trying to search out, we definitely must pinpoint down to the causes from which these sufferings and their patterns arise. And as it is in fact in normal phenomena, the way how things exist, how things are being produced, it is the fact that everything has to have a cause. And because that is the fact, therefore, happiness and suffering must have come from certain causes. Therefore, in the course of trying to find a solution, we first have to pinpoint from where, what causes determine the reason for sadness and suffering.
For example, to explain it more clearly, in Australia, most people are fond of flowers. And as it is the fact that most Australians like flowers, it’s not just enough for people to have a kind of aspiration, oh, may I have a flower, and to make a prayer to have a flower. It’s not just enough. People just have to plant the flower seed and let it grow and finally have the flower. The point here being emphasized is that everything has to have a cause.
If you have the cause, then you can have the product. Regarding the causes of suffering and happiness. So suffering, you can interpret as anything which you don’t like physically and mentally, dissatisfaction, stress, everything. So regarding the causes of suffering and happiness, they have to be identified in this way. All the sufferings come from non-virtuous actions, which technically are called negativity. And all the happiness, they come from virtuous actions, which are technically called virtuous.
Regarding the negativities which are causes of suffering, what actually do we mean by negativity? So these will have to be understood as meaning negativity is being understood as meaning the bad mind, which are normally called afflictions or delusions. And these delusions are such as the main example, there are three, attachment, hatred, and ignorance. So ignorance in the actual word meaning is close-mindedness, not understanding the very nature of things. So like those three represented by those three main, the mind, the whole. If one has a passion, they were called, translated as what is called desire.
So if one has a passion, then because of that passion, one will speak inappropriate words which harm other beings, other people, other sentient beings. And also, as long as one has attachment, then through body, one may do inappropriate, non-virtuous actions. Also, as long as one has attachment, one will start having bad ideas, trying to attain the object of attachment in the course of which one does wrong. And in the same way, if one has hatred, then because of that hatred, one will do non-virtuous actions through body and through speech. And they will also arise accompanying that thought along with the pattern.
Same with the — the same happens with what is called ignorance. As long as one is ignorant, one would do non-virtuous actions through body. Therefore, these three main main main — as long as they’re there within a person, they keep a person — now please be very well identified what actually causes the suffering. We have fairly come to the point that because of these bad thoughts represented mainly by attachment, hatred, and ignorance, there comes the bad action of body, speech, and mind, and which determines our experiencing suffering, problems, stress, and so forth. Therefore, please be clearly identified that all our suffering does come from our principal afflictions, those three that are called delusions.
And in the same way, from where does — from where do all the happiness come from? All happiness will in the same way, our happiness will have to come from good actions of body, speech, and mind, which are further forceful if one has a good pure mind, free of those delusions. So to explain more clearly from where do the good actions of body, mind arise — it is from a good mind free of those delusions, those three principal delusions. And that has to be in this way, the practitioner, the person has to — to award — maybe not good word. The practitioner should not do — the practitioner should not do what I call maintaining of the mind of attachment, maintaining the mind of hatred, maintaining the mind of ignorance.
Stop those, and then the good actions of the body come after that. Now at the moment in this life, we have attained a rebirth as a human. So this rebirth as a human, having a human body, is to restore your past life good states of mind, having no attachment and having no ignorance. And it’s the result of those two, or not having those two bad thoughts. And, also, being human in this life, we have a fairly attractive body, delightful when seen by others.
And that delightful body is the result, in part, of not keeping the mind of hatred in the past life. Those who have a completely what is called ugly form or physical shape that, just at their side, what is called next to prey. And some other animals who in their form or physical appearance, they seem so bad in the sense of prey or. So those who are states of rebirth in such ugly physical form, there is sort of particularly having had hatred in the past life. But in short, those three bad causes — so at the moment, we have very beautiful, quite relatively attractive form and body and nice, very good as human, and all facilities for doing the practice, complete with them.
All the factors are completely there. So these are all the results of past life virtue, and virtue in the sense of having practiced the spiritual path, which is to be meant. So it’s because of past lives’ good actions, which we think, and which good actions have brought about in this present life that we have everything fairly, what I call, fairly good in the sense of having all the factors for doing practice or practicing. This has been the past. Now, in this life, if we continue to be good in our spiritual practice and maintaining good health, then in next life, we can go on improving and having higher and higher. Nowadays, in the sense, like, meaning in this world at present, we have a kind of thinking that happiness is something — as long as we have enough food to eat, enough clothes to wear, and the stable house and means of our standard of livelihood, standard of life — that’s happiness.
And towards that end, we we try to make money through all different kinds of possible means, by opening factories. It’s the kind of mind which obscures the person into not seeing the reality of things. It’s the kind of obscured mind not identifying the good as the good, not identifying bad as the bad, and being obscured, ignorant, one engages into what I call mistreatment of the other person with whom one comes in relation or has to deal with. And then there is hatred. When there arises hatred, the person’s eyes become red and his face and whole body is filled with hot air. And then he expresses insulting words.
And through physical action, he may inflict harm in whichever way he may. Like, for example, in a family, if one of the parents becomes angry, then their whole eyes become red and whole body — it’s like a puffed filled with hot air. And through mouth or verbally, the person expresses words which insult and hurt the other person, in this case, the partner. And because one out of ignorance also — because one expresses in certain words, the other person naturally is hurt. So because the other person is hurt, therefore, the other person may show a kind of dislike in facial expression and so forth.
And because of that, the person himself might think, oh, there’s something wrong, or perhaps the other person doesn’t like me, or there’s what I call great hatred in the other person’s mind, which actually has started from one side. And because of that, there starts the whole, what’s called, whole enmity, resentment — whenever you see the person, and it keeps on dwelling in the form like whenever you see the other person, you just see him in a black shape, meaning you just see the outline of the person even though the person is passing right by you, because you are full of dislike and resentment. You don’t feel like observing clearly, so you just see the outline. And if you happen to be eating together, or you just may be sitting back to back with another, and if it’s in the case of one same residence hall, then when the other person comes in the door, one might have to leave in the sense of avoiding each other. So the whole thing comes up.
Said, hey. You know this? In such a situation, even though both of them may have plenty of food to eat, there’s still no happiness. And in that situation, even though both have plenty of clothes to wear, but still there’s no real happiness.
And in that situation, even though both of them may have plenty of money, but still there’s no real happiness. And that situation is really the start of a miserable life. Now the great compassionate teacher, Buddha, says in a verse where it goes like, the great able one sees the delusions, not the person, because the person is not to blame. It’s the delusion which causes the person to act in those bad manners. So this has been explained as meaning whenever there is a disharmony and resentment between two persons due to hatred. In that case, both of those persons are not to be blamed.
It’s just within those two persons’ mind, there is a bad part or normally called delusions. So those delusions are the one which is to be blamed, and that’s what actually causes the whole problem of having resentment towards each other and so forth. Well, this is being explained as meaning, for example, if there is a couple and if the husband out of hatred says something which hurts the wife, then in that case, the husband or the person is helpless or beyond control because it is the hatred within him which occupies the person’s whole mind and causes the person to do that expression of insulting words. So it’s not the person who has got the choice. It’s — because of being overpowered by hatred that the whole expression is coming.
In that case, if a person — in this case, in the example, it would be the wife. In that case, if the wife is somebody who has some spiritual understanding, then she will look at it, or she will think this way — the person is just helpless. It’s just the resentment or hatred within the husband’s mind which is causing and which overpowers the husband. So that’s how she should think. And in that case, if there is — let’s suppose in that situation, if there is let’s suppose if there is to be any responding hatred, then it has to be toward the hatred within the husband’s mind, not to the husband itself himself.
In that case, if the wife can really think that way, then love and compassion will not be lost. They will still be there, and the cause of love and compassion will not be lost. Therefore, the couple can remain in harmonious existence. Such thought of love and compassion, they are normally called Dharma, the spiritual path, which transforms the person into pure state. So such thought of love and compassion are called Dharma because it is the one which is the source for the person to accomplish his own welfare, and not only of this life, but of both the person’s next life’s welfare, and also from the power of this love and compassion, there will be force arising in future for the person to generate what is normally called the altruistic mind of enlightenment, bodhicitta. And also through the power of these thoughts, the person can be able to realize the ultimate reality, the nature of things called emptiness. And also, due to the power of these two thought developments of compassion, the person afterward can perfect all the stages of the spiritual path, concluding in the final attainment of what is called Buddhahood, the complete state of enlightenment. The great teachings of the great compassionate teacher, Buddha, is such a what I call appealing spiritual path where everything is accepted on the basis that things work on dependent arising, on the fact of relativity, on the fact that everything arises or functions by depending on each other, depending on cause and effect, and everything has to be accepted on the basis of actual fact of reality, that things function and how causes produce the results and so forth. And it confirms to the scientific way of accepting things where things are accepted if they withstand the analysis of reasoning.
And things — it confirms the discerning way of accepting things in the sense that nothing is accepted if it doesn’t withstand when analyzed by reasoning. Rinpoche is very happy that tonight you have come here. You have come here and listened to these teachings of the great and special path. Why Rinpoche is quite happy is because he has been able to tell you the teachings of the master Buddha on which he has studied for more than thirty years. And following that, has been doing continuous practices and out of whatever he knows and has been practicing.
He has explained with the motivation and intention, aspiring that his talk or teachings may be of benefit to you. With the teachings of Buddha, it is what I call something on which if you want to analyze, there is ground for analysis, and it’s something on which if you want to think or reflect, there is ground for reflection. You can think. You can think on it. You can analyze on it. Therefore, Rinpoche thinks that if you spend time studying and trying to get some work out of it, there may be some benefit you might be able to draw.
Yeah. We’ll leave some time for questions, some minutes for question and answer. And he would be happy to welcome any questions. In such a situation, the actual way to think is this way. Maybe in this life, it’s a fact that I haven’t done anything wrong to the person, but still the person has been continuously unkind and treating you badly.
But the actual way of thinking is — maybe — it’s because in the past lives, I have done the same bad treatment to the person, and those actions are now ripening. The results of those actions are ripening now. So with that thinking, maybe perhaps it’s a very wonderful thing to do, continuous maintaining of tolerance, patience towards that person. In that case, if you are able to do that, then the practice of patience, being able to tolerate it, is something very powerful that it will result in future improvement of your state of mind and attaining happiness.
And also on the other hand, the second benefit would be whatever possible sufferings you might have to experience in the course of treating the other person badly in the past. You will already have experienced in this life receiving bad treatment. Means you don’t have to experience that suffering afterwards. It may be alright just to defend, but still, there is a limit to defending. It shouldn’t exceed to attacking the other person, the other nation’s people, killing them.
But there are exceptions in the bodhisattva practices and highest in the high tantric practices where a bodhisattva who has reached quite a high level — for them, it is an exception that because they can transform their what I call active intervention, maybe sometimes they are even exceptions to perform actions, active actions for good objectivity. On the one hand, we have Buddha who is not called a sentient being because he is one who has completely gotten rid of his faults and who is complete with all the good qualities. On the other hand, we have on the other hand, we have other groups who are called sentient beings. And sentient beings, those who have life and who have mind. So meaning, sentient beings are those who have life, life and death, and mind.
So I I recall I requested for what what would be the exact meaning of life because we have different biological meanings. Life could also mean to living things, what I call animate or inanimate. So life here means normally breathing. So that breathing is what I call on the basis that breathing happens on the basis of there being a mind, and that mind being what I call sustained, being sustained by a thing called life force. So in meaning, it’s just a label to that thing which has or keeps the mind with the body.
So at the time when the person dies, that means the life is gone because that very thing which keeps the mind with the body is not there. So that’s the meaning of life. So one which has life and which has mind that is sentient being. So whoever has that mind and body being together, that feature, that thing, and on top of that, whoever has mind, that is sentient being. And then so many other plants apart from those which don’t have life and also things which don’t have life are also within the category of stones, soil, and so forth.
We dedicate whatever good what I call good deposit of merits or energies which were accumulated by doing the action of listening or thinking on the subject of this special path. So, we just dedicate that as a power for us to be able to have