Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. Using a leaking roof as his central image — suffering continues until you block the cause, not just mop up the drips — Khensur Rinpoche lays out a complete introduction to Buddhist ethics in this 86-minute public talk at Buddha House. He opens by questioning why material prosperity (food, clothing, money) yields only temporary pleasure, and asks what could instead produce lasting, unchanging happiness. His answer turns on abandoning the ten unskillful actions, which he walks through in order: three physical (killing, stealing, sexual misconduct), four verbal (harmful speech, lying, divisive speech, idle gossip), and three mental (covetousness, harmful intent, wrong views), with the karmic logic behind each. He closes with the three-stage path of listening, reflection, and meditation, then takes questions on the nature of mind and how Buddhist consciousness compares to the Christian concept of soul. Intended for newcomers with no prior background assumed.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 31 1993 03 29 PT Intro to Buddhism.mp3
UUID: 13a0f10d-70c5-4544-993b-ef73a1d94cf3
Teacher: Khensur Rinpoche
Collection: Public Talks 1988-2003 (Khensur Rinpoche)
Date: 1993-03-29
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 86.1 minutes
Words: ~4,424
Yes. So begin by adjusting our motivation and then we’re going to recite three prayers which are quite often recited as a preliminary to the actual talk that’s going to be given. So if you’d like to join in the recitation of these prayers, if someone could pass out the red book. So you’re free to join in or not as you like, whatever feels comfortable. We’re going to begin with ten minute meditation.
So I’ll guide you slowly through the meditation. So we won’t be using our books for the next ten minutes. So just as just follow the instructions which are given. We are going to It would be wonderful if myself and all living beings were free of suffering and all the causes of suffering. And then the wish, may myself and all living beings be free of suffering and the causes of suffering.
And the exceptional resolve that I myself will free myself and all living beings from suffering and the causes of that suffering. And in order to achieve it in developing the motivation for one’s meditation that this may come about. I would like to recite a few preliminary prayers. First of which is verse number three on page one. And we’ll recite verse number two after that.
And we’re going to do it in Tibetan. And then verse number two. Then find verse number five on page four. So I’m going to talk briefly about a piece really valuable advice that Buddha Śākyamūni Buddha once gave. The first thing I’m going to talk about is that we should not engage in negative activities, that we should amass the creative potential, that we should try to train our minds.
This is the advice of the Buddha. In general, in the world, there are various types of living beings. But whoever those beings might be, whatever person it might person might be, all of them without exception want some type of result of happiness and they want not to suffer. This is the same, we’re all of the same type throughout all these various types of beings. So we as human beings have a great deal of intelligence.
We have this wonderful human brain. And in looking at this problem of suffering, we can begin to ask, well, how does suffering come about? How does happiness come about? We can identify what is happiness and what is suffering and then begin to consider its nature and think about it in terms of what brings it about. On the other hand, animals though in fact they want to be happy, they don’t want to suffer, are unable to discriminate the nature of their experiences in terms of happiness and suffering and how it evolves.
In wanting happiness, we can by means of our intelligence, our wisdom, begin to look at from where our happiness comes from. Happiness is a result and trying to understand, investigate what is the cause of this result, this result in happiness that we’re seeking on the one hand. And in terms of our suffering, where does our suffering come from? And beginning to develop the ability to understand its cause. And because of our capacity as having human intelligence, this wisdom that we have, we are able to discern what are the causes of happiness and the causes of suffering.
So in considering the nature of our happiness and from where it comes, those who have investigated, those who have not trained their mind in analysis of their problems, for the most part, the majority of people in the world see the source of their happiness in terms of food, clothing and money. And I think when they begin to look at when these same people begin to think about well, what’s my problem? They see their problems in terms of a lack of food, clothing and money. Though they might have some physical illnesses which cause them suffering, majority of what they see as their problem in terms of their mind is in terms of the lack of these materials. So in a way this this thinking is correct, this way of viewing our problems, but only in terms of a temporal experiences of happiness and suffering.
You know, we experience a certain degree of temporal happiness if we have the right food, the right clothing, enough money, that is a material prosperity. But this is only true in terms of temporal well-being. So in terms of this life, these materials can contribute to temporal happiness. It can contribute to our physical well-being. But in terms of the quality of these happiness, they are at best temporary, superficial, that they do not have the capacity to bring us the stable, profound happiness.
So these you know, we can experience happiness and we do. When we eat good food, it’s delicious and we enjoy it. When we drink something pleasurable, it’s very it’s it’s enjoyable. But the nature of these happiness is that they aren’t stable. If we were to, even though the food is delicious and we are enjoying it, if we continue to eat and continue, eventually it turns to suffering.
Or On the other hand, if we don’t stop drinking, it’s going to turn to pain. So when we look at happiness, these types of happiness we are saying are not real happinesses. That a real happiness should always be whatever things bring us real happiness, they should always be able to have that capacity to bring us happiness. However much we we drink, it should always bring us pleasure. However much we eat, however long we ate, we should still be continually experiencing pleasure.
And sometimes when we’re really thirsty, we drink and it brings us some temporary pleasure. But it’s not real happiness in the sense that if we continue to drink, it it is bound up with suffering. That is to say all of these various happinesses are related in their nature to some type of suffering. These various means to bring us pleasure, be it food or clothing. The pleasure is seen as temporary and superficial, even money.
It can bring us, you know, we can buy nice clothing, we can buy a nice place to live. But still these are temporary in the sense that the pleasure is not unchanging. It’s not stable. Even the money itself is associated with types of suffering. You know we have to worry about losing it, worry that it’s going to be exhausted, worry about it being stolen.
So even having the money itself is related to a certain type of suffering. So these various means can at best bring a certain superficial pleasure. They cannot bring actual stable, lasting happiness. And also holds true with respect to the suffering involved with physical illnesses. We get sick and we go to the doctor and the doctor examines us and prescribes a particular medicine.
And at best this medicine can only temporarily alleviate our physical problem. This type of medicine cannot remove the very root of our physical problem such that we experience a state of happiness without any physical difficulty, a stable experience of that. So these various means that we just briefly outlined, means of these we cannot achieve an unchanging happiness, a type of happiness which is completely divorced of all suffering. At best they can bring a temporary pleasure to ourselves; they cannot achieve an ultimate unchanging happiness where there is completely no experience of suffering. Now we have to ask, does anything have ability, that potential to bring about within myself an ultimate happiness, an unchanging condition where I experience no suffering.
If we were to question and if we would answer, that is possible, there is definitely something which can bring that about. What we can begin to what we can rely upon in this process of finding a an ultimate ultimate type of happiness is a path which is represented by the teachings that in dependence upon these we can completely remove our suffering from the root and experience an unchanging happiness. That is to say we can achieve the happiness of liberation. So when we say when we make this claim, it’s not something which is simply meaningless words, and it should not be taken like that. What we are talking about is something which should and can be analyzed through reasoned analysis, that we should investigate it just as a scientist would investigate, trying to establish the proof of what they’re looking at.
That we should not go on the basis of no reason or just haphazardly, but making use of our reasonability to analyze the validity of what is being presented. Beginning to exemplify what we are getting at. We are composed of two components, the body and the mind. The body is simply the physical part, the head, the hand, the torso, etc. And then there’s a component of mind.
That part of ourselves which has the function of thinking which thinks this is this, this is not this, and that part of ourselves which understands, which knows things. So these two factors are distinct one from the other. Mind is not the body, the body is not the mind. But they exist in combination with each other. So the body can act as a factor bringing ourselves harm, it can act as a factor to bring ourselves benefit or it can act as a factor which is simply neutral.
So the body, we have the physical potential to bring harm, through weapons, through using our body to hurt others, and therefore it has that capacity, it has the potential to bring harm. Again it has the capacity to bring benefit, both in terms of others and oneself, giving them clothes, giving them food, medicines and bringing benefit physically. So are many the things about us can bring physical benefit to ourselves, they can bring physical harms to ourselves. Weapons bring physical harms to ourselves, food, clothing and medicines bring physical well-being to ourselves. And then there are things about us which are neutral, that the ground, the stones, they bring no particular benefit nor harm to ourselves.
So you quite intelligent. I don’t have to go into detail in explaining that. So the same holds true with respect to the mind. This is that there are various things about which can bring ourselves physical harm, benefit or something neutral to the welfare of the body. Likewise, there are things about us which are either beneficial, harmful or neutral with respect to the mind.
We can begin to question, what are the things about us which are beneficial to ourselves physically and mentally? Let us say what brings us mental and physical happiness? And this was outlined in the teachings of the Buddha, Śākyamūni, are called Dharma. So that which brings about physical and mental welfare, the various means of spiritual practice on the one hand, and those which bring about which are negative, which bring harm, which are harmful to both physically and mentally, are various unskillful actions and various negative states. So if we were to say, well, that which harms ourselves physically and mentally are our unskillful actions.
If we cease those unskillful actions, then we will cease the experience of suffering, which are the results of them. So by ceasing the cause, the unskillful action, which bring about harm to ourselves mentally and physically, having stopped the cause, we stop the result. Analogy would be that if it was raining a great deal and there was a hole in the roof and we sat there and it was dripping water on top of ourselves, it’s a real problem. So you know it’s going to remain a problem until we get up there and stop up the hole. We can eliminate our problems by doing something about it.
So we can understand this analogy quite readily that we experience a trouble or problem as a result of what? Because of the cause of the dripping from a hole in the roof. And if we get rid of that cause, then we are going to experience that troublesome result. But if we don’t cease the cause of our problem, our problem is simply going to continue. That we have to examine what is causing our difficulty just as in the case of this water dripping on top of ourselves.
When we recognize what is the source of my problem and we see where it’s coming from, then we can do something about it. We can actually get up and remove the cause. We can block up the hole and thereby eliminate our problem. Likewise with respect to our various mental and physical sufferings we have to begin to question what is their evolution from where are they coming and using our wisdom investigate the nature of our problems and therefore their cause. And we will come to the understanding that the cause of all our problems are unskillful actions.
And if we can cease creating unskillful actions, it is just as in the same case of blocking the hole in the ceiling in the roof that we will have removed the cause and likewise we will not have to experience undesirable result. So if unskillful actions are in fact the cause of our mental and physical suffering, beginning to question well how in order to bring about the cessation of those causes, eliminate our unskillful actions, we have to begin to understand how our unskillful actions come about themselves. So the source of our unskillful actions and therefore our suffering, by means of which it comes into being, is through what I call the four doors. So there is the physical body itself. Then there is the speech which comes from the communication, the type of speech which comes from our mouth.
And then there is the thinking within our mind. These three. So if we first talk about this door of the body, that is physical unskillful actions. That is to say ways of bringing harm through our bodily actions. These are first killing, then the stealing of others’ possessions, and then thirdly sexual misconduct.
So these physical actions are examples of negative actions in terms of our body. And they’re unskillful because acting these ways of action, we are bringing harm to others. As a result of bringing harm or causing trouble, problems to others, we ourselves will be harmed, that we ourselves will experience trouble and problems. If someone were to kill another being, it involves a great deal of suffering on the part of the being which is killed, both physical and mental suffering. There’s a physical suffering which is incurred, but also there’s the great fright, the great fear of death which they experience in the course of their dying.
And as a result of that unskillful action that we’ve enacted toward others, we ourselves will experience the same in terms of ourselves. We ourselves will undergo the same experience of suffering, both physical and mental. And the same holds true with respect to the second physical unskillful action, that of stealing others’ possessions. And taking what belongs to others, whatever it might be, their wealth, material possessions, is causing them suffering. We are harming them in some way.
And this will as a cause such that in the future we will experience poverty, we will be without material possessions, we will lack food, clothing, that we will undergo all of these troubles and problems because of the various lacks of material possessions as a result. And the same holds true with respect to the third unskillful physical action of sexual misconduct. That is to say, having sexual relationships outside of one’s accepted partner. If one is in that type of relationship and having sexual relationships outside of that partnership as a result of which that oneself in the future will have difficulty in finding a partner, who will remain faithful to you and that even upon finding such an individual you will quickly separate. It won’t be a stable long lasting relationship.
By abandoning these unskillful actions, we are not only not harming others, but we are bringing them a sense of well-being by having freedom from being harmed in this way. And as a future result of not harming and bringing others happiness that they will bring us happiness in the future and we will be happy. So we talked about the negative physical actions, but also there are the negative verbal actions. For example, the first of which is harmful speech. That is to say types of ways of speaking to others which are motivated out of anger, in which we try to hurt someone else and try to cause them suffering through our speech.
Another example of negative verbal action would be lying, trying to trick someone. What is in fact is not or what is not is, telling them the opposite of the actual situation. Then there’s divisive speech, types of ways of talking in which you try to create a separation, a schism, whether it be within a family, between friends, partners, trying to separate one person from another to create disharmony amongst people. And then finally the negative verbal action of idle gossip, meaningless chatter in which wastes the time of others and yourself. So all of these ways of communicating verbally with others in some way are bringing harm.
And as a result of this way of harming others, that we will ourselves in the future experience harm. So all of these verbal ways of relating are act as causes of suffering to others. As a consequence, we ourselves will experience suffering as a result. But on the other hand, if we were to abandon these ways of relating, then we would be bringing others happiness as a consequence of which we ourselves would experience happiness in the future. And then finally with respect to the mind, three types of mental activities, actions of the mind.
The first of these is covetousness, in which we have a great desire, longing to get other’s possession. We think, oh I have to have that, I really want that badly, and having this tremendous desire to get what others possess. The second is harmful intention, the intention to get back at, thinking oh this person said this to me last year, I’m going to get back at them the first opportunity I get. Holding a grudge, a sense of wanting to bring harm to another in terms of thinking about how one is going to hurt another. And then finally, the third negative mental action of wrong views.
An example would be that in general it is the case that from negative types of actions a negative result arises and suffering on the other on the one hand. On the other that from positive types of action a positive result, happiness arises. So there is this type of relationship between causes and effect. But in fact holding the opposite of that, sort of distorted conceptions, wrong conception, thinking that from negative actions happiness arises and from positive actions unhappiness arises. So these types of distorted ways of thinking constitute wrong view.
These various mental actions bring about harm to both oneself and others. That’s why they are termed unskillful actions, covetousness, harmful intent where we think to bring harm to hurt someone, but also the various types of wrong views that we can hold. Thinking that negative actions are the way to find happiness and that positive actions are just going to bring us trouble. That these misconceptions actually hurt both ourselves and others. Rather than harboring, for example, harmful intentions, it’s much more productive to develop the qualities of love and compassion to benefit others.
Rather than thinking that from negative types of action happiness will come, it is much more positive to think that from positive actions positive results will arise, and from negative actions negative results will arise. So beginning to abandon these three types of unskillful mental actions. If we were just to summarize briefly what we talked about, that there are three ways in which we can act. These are in terms of physically, verbally, and mentally. And terms of negative ways of acting, unskillful actions, there are three unskillful actions in the body, four of speech and three of mind, making it a total of ten unskillful actions. And all of these unskillful actions are of such a nature that they harm others, that they act as a cause of suffering, both immediately, but also in the future as a result that one self will experience the suffering result.
So it is necessary in order to remove the cause of the suffering to begin to abandon these ten unskillful actions. The opposite of these enactments of unskillful actions is their abandonment, foregoing these unskillful ways of acting. Rather than harming others, to cease harming others, thereby creating the causes of one’s own future physical and mental well-being. By way of a simple analogy, we are very much like farmers, and the living beings around us are like a field. And just as the farmer, if a farmer were to plant a type of seed which produces sweet variety of plant, then planting that sweet seed, they would get the result of a sweet plant.
On the other hand, if the seed were of a sour nature, then the plant which grew from that would give that quality of result, the sour nature. Likewise, with respect to ourselves. If we cause others problems, if we harm others, then this is like planting a negative type of cause, we ourselves will experience a suffering result. On the other hand, if the type of causes that we create in relating with others are of a positive type, then let us say bringing happiness to others and we ourselves will experience a positive result. So all of what we’ve been talking about involves a process of training the mind, involves a method of practice.
First we listen to the various teachings. We can read books on the Dharma and begin to get this information. But then we have to begin to reflect upon it. We must use our reasoned analysis, beginning to try to understand what is being said. And then finally we meditate upon it and we come to an actual experience.
Because the root of all our our way of acting, all our ways of relating is the mind itself, then it’s necessary that we understand the nature of the mind. It’s extremely important. You know, if the mind is in a negative state, then out of that negative state will flow forth unskillful ways of acting. On the other hand, if our mind is in a positive state, then out of that state will flow forth positive ways of acting. And therefore, both positive ways of relating, negative ways of relating, acting, modes of conduct are dependent upon healthy and unhealthy states of mind.
So we have to understand the nature of mind. The source of all our problems are various negative states of mind. Negative states of mind have never benefited anyone. Neither can benefit others or neither yourself. They are in fact only the cause of suffering.
In order to, the only way that we can overcome these negative states of mind are through the cultivation of positive states. There’s nothing other than that which can counteract negative states. So it is just this which Buddhism is able to offer: in order to overcome these negative states which are the causes of our problems, it is necessary to develop healthy states of mind and therefore it’s necessary to make effort in generating healthy states of mind. In order to do that we have to implement methods for generating positive states of mind. And Buddhism has a vast network of techniques which are profound as a means for helping us to develop these healthy states of mind.
So we’re going to stop there. So take some time if you have some doubts or some questions, things you’d like to get cleared up, you can ask those. Those. Any questions? From the point of view of Buddhism, that which constitutes our being is composed of body and mind.
There’s no other factor than that. Body and mind. Roughly speaking, there’s only the body and mind, or body and consciousness. For example, when we die, the body is left behind, and the mind, the consciousness, is that which will take rebirth. I don’t know if that answers your question.
I think it might help. The mind and body are dissimilar. We can see the body, but we aren’t able to see the mind. According to Christianity, which takes what is it? Is it permanent?
That which takes rebirth, which is not consciousness? So is the soul the consciousness? And the soul is that which goes on to future life. Yeah. And is that the same as your channel?
So, probably the same. So we could talk about it like that, like light, in that the mind has a luminous quality to it, it is able to illuminate. Or it can be like a mirror, whatever is presented before a mirror is reflected, appears within the mirror. So it’s able to illuminate.
It is a clear non-physical factor which is intangible, but it has the ability to illuminate and for objects to appear to. So as to whether this longing for a home was unskillful or not, but depend upon whether it was associated with the afflictive ignorance. In order for an action to be be unskillful, it must be associated with this afflictive ignorance, in which case it would be. On the other hand, if one’s thought is in a positive state, one could long for a home in order to, for example, help others. If I had a house and I could help others, and this wouldn’t be covetousness.
It would be a positive quality, positive action. Positive action. So Marigpa is a factor of mind which obscures us from understanding the actual nature of the situation. It’s an unclarity which prevents us from knowing what is actually the nature of what is occurring. So it’s an obscuration and an unclarity, an obstacle, a veiling of the mind.
And recite two short prayers of dedication which are on page five verses eight to nine.