Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. Using a room heater that first warms and then overheats, Khensur Rinpoche builds a running analogy that makes cause-and-result logic immediately tangible in this 48-minute introduction to Buddhism. After a brief guided meditation on love and compassion, he moves to the Four Noble Truths, explaining why the body itself counts as a true suffering — the toothache example makes it vivid: have a tooth, get a toothache. He traces suffering to its causes (karma and afflictive emotions: attachment, aversion, and ignorance) and argues that cessation is genuinely achievable once those causes are cut. A second analogy — patient, doctor, diagnosis, and cure — maps all four truths onto a concrete sequence before he introduces ethics, meditative stabilization, and wisdom as the threefold path. Suited to newcomers encountering Buddhist ideas for the first time.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 33 1993 05 18 PT Intro to Buddhism.mp3
UUID: 9ad67717-bb9c-44ee-bb70-50db42c25864
Teacher: Khensur Rinpoche
Collection: Public Talks 1988-2003 (Khensur Rinpoche)
Date: 1993-05-18
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 48.1 minutes
Words: ~2,542
So what are we going to meditate on? We’re going to meditate on love and compassion, developing a kind hearted, beneficial attitude both toward others and ourselves. So begin with the thought that just as we ourselves want happiness, that all living beings want happiness in exactly the same way. And that what type of happiness are we talking about? There are two types of happiness.
There are those which are stable, which are unchanging, and then there is the type of happiness which is unchanging, which is completely stable. And this is the happiness of liberation, where we’ve abandoned all suffering. So developing the thought, may all living beings have an unchanging happiness and the causes of happiness. The causes of happiness are very skillful actions. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if all beings had happiness and the causes of happiness?
And then meditating on compassion. And this is understood in the context that just as we ourselves do not want suffering, likewise all sentient beings, whosoever, do not want suffering. And in order to rid ourselves of suffering, we have to eliminate the causes which bring about suffering. So developing the attitude of mind expressed in the thought that, Wouldn’t it be wonderful if myself and all living beings were free of suffering and the causes of suffering, which is compassion. And in order to achieve that aim, both for myself and others, I’m going to engage in meditation.
This acts as our motivation. Begin with the thought, it would be wonderful if myself and all living beings had an unchanging happiness in the causes of such a happiness. Recite three short prayers. If you’d like to recite along with us, we can hand out the books. Verses three and then two on page one.
And the verse number five on page four. So tonight, we’re going to continue the discussion on the introduction to Buddhism. So the Buddha initially taught the Dharma, the teachings, in India at a place called Banaras, and the first teaching was a teaching on the four noble truths. So what are the four noble truths? There’s the noble truth of true sufferings, true causes of sufferings, true cessations of sufferings, and true paths which lead to the cessation of suffering.
So these are the four noble truths. And how are they divided? They’re divided in terms of undesirable results, those types of results that we want to be rid of, and those types of desirable results, those types of results or effects that we want to cultivate, that we would like to have. So having divided these truths into undesirable and desirable results, we have to ask, since these are results, how do they come about? All results come about in dependence upon causes.
So there are two causes which are undesirable and two which are desirable. So how do we bring about an end to these types of undesirable results that we don’t want? How do we, in fact, bring about the results that we do want? So these results arise from causes. So we have to be able to identify and recognize what is the cause of undesirable results that we want to stop.
We have to first recognize them. And then on the other hand, what are the causes for the desirable results, those results which we want? And we have to create those causes. If we create those causes, then the desired result will come by itself. So if we present an analogy to help to understand, during cold weather our room is cold.
We don’t want a cold room. Would like a nice comfortable warm room. So we have to make some effort to bring some warmth to our room. So we use an electric heater and that electric heater acts as the cause to bring about the desired results that we want. So by plugging the heater into the electricity, then we create the desired warmth that we desire.
That is, by plugging the heater in, we create the causes to attain the result that we want. So there’s two factors involved here. There’s the result that we want, which is the warmth, and then there’s the cause, which brings about that warmth, that is the plugging in of the heater. So to bring about the result that we want, we have to create the cause. But having kept the heater on, eventually the room becomes uncomfortably hot.
And so we become uncomfortable because now there’s too much heat in the room. So we naturally want to eliminate the uncomfortableness from it being too hot in the room. From where is the heat coming from? It’s coming from the very heater, this heater. And so if we turn off the heater, then we are removing the cause for it being too hot in the room.
By eliminating the cause, then we achieve the desired result. So in order to eliminate the uncomfortable result that which we desire to be rid of, then we have to get rid of the cause. We have to turn off the heater. If we don’t get rid of the cause, then we’re going to have to continue to experience an undesired result. I think that’s clear.
So it should be clear that both undesired results and desirable results arise from causes. What is it that we don’t want? We don’t want the various types of suffering that we experience through our body and mind. There are various mental and physical sufferings, uncomfortableness of the body and various fears, anxieties, unhappiness of the mind. These are undesirable results that we don’t want.
In talking about these undesirable results, have to become aware that just simply the type of body that we possess now predisposes us to experience various dissatisfaction and suffering. For example, if we didn’t have a head, Having a head, then we are predisposed to have headaches. If we have eyes, then we have problems with our eyes. If we have a hand, then we have problems with our hand. The very fact of having a body predisposes us to various types of illnesses and dissatisfactory qualities with our body.
For example, if we have a tooth, then we can get a toothache. If we were to pull that tooth out, then the basis for ever having that toothache again is removed. So it is our present body, which is a basis for all various types of sicknesses, all types of undesirable feelings, it is as if a source of suffering. And therefore, the body that we possess is termed a true suffering. We have to undergo various displeasurable, unpleasurable physical feelings, hot and cold, etcetera, simply having the type of body that we now have.
So our body is referred to as a noble truth of suffering. Why is it referred to as a noble truth suffering? Because it is seen by nobles, or that is to say superiors. Superiors are those who have a direct realization of ultimate nature of reality, that is to say emptiness. A superior is superior to an ordinary being.
That’s why they’re called superiors or nobles. They have a direct insight into the ultimate nature of reality. So that which they understand, that which they realize, because having seen that, having seen the body as a true suffering, because they see it, it is referred to as a noble truth of suffering. It is a truth of suffering for nobles or superiors because they are unmistaken as to having seen the ultimate nature of reality. So our present type of embodiment acts as a foundation for suffering, but we have already taken such a type of embodiment.
How are we to cease taking such a type of embodiment again in the future? In order to do that, we have to cease creating the causes for such a type of embodiment. And what are the causes? The causes are termed the noble true sources, the true sources of suffering, the true causes of suffering. And these are karma, that is the actions, and afflictive emotions.
By afflictive emotions, such types of emotions as attachment, aversion, and ignorance. It is under the influence of ignorance acting as a motivating force we engage in various negative types of activities. We create actions. Due to the force of these actions we are forced to take a particular type of embodiment which acts as a root of suffering. So just as in the case of due to heat we underwent the uncomfortableness of being too warm.
And in order to eliminate that uncomfortable feeling of being too warm, we removed its cause, which was to turn off the heater. Likewise, we now have a type of embodiment which acts as a basis for various types of dissatisfactions. In order not to again re embody in the same way, we have to remove the cause. What is the cause? The cause are our various afflictive emotions and the negative actions which bring about these, which are motivated by these afflictive emotions.
Negative action of body, speech, mind, which force us to again re assume a type of embodiment which acts as a foundation for further suffering. So this undesirable result, our present type of embodiment, and its causes, the afflictive emotions and karma, the various actions, are the two factors which are to be gotten rid of or abandoned. So the question now arises that we are experiencing an undesirable suffering, undesired suffering. All the various sufferings that we have to go through, such as the various feelings of heat and cold, thirst and hunger, aging, diseases and death, etc. And we ask, well, can we attain a state where we are free of these types of suffering?
Can I attain a type of happiness where there is no suffering? That is to say, in answering this question, we have to answer this question if we are ever going to strive for liberation from our suffering, can it actually be attained? So in developing a desire which strives for some type of liberation from our problems, from our suffering, and which is to attain only happiness, the question arises: well, can such a state be attained? Can I attain a state where there’s no suffering, where there’s only happiness? That is to say, can I get rid of the causes of suffering?
Can I eliminate completely the causes of suffering? So the answer is that such a state can be attained. And this state is called true cessation, and that is the result that we can achieve. True cessation means that we’ve eliminated completely the causes of suffering. The cessation of suffering has been brought about and there is only the experience of happiness.
Well, if a if such a state, a result, actually can be achieved, well, how do we go about it? What is the method for achieving this state, this state of an unchanging happiness where there is no suffering? What is the method to achieve this? And this is the Fourth noble truth, the noble true paths. So this is, going back to the analogy that we mentioned previously.
When during cold weather you’re in your room and you’re very cold, it’s a type of suffering that you don’t want to experience. So you want to become comfortable. And the method that we use to become comfortable is by turning on the heater. Likewise, we are experiencing suffering and we want to experience what we want, is to experience a happiness where there’s no suffering. What is the method to achieve that result that we want?
It is the cause, which is two paths. So paths are the method whereby to achieve the happiness where there is no suffering. So the method of achieving this desired result is the two paths, the various paths. And these initially are based upon the path of ethics. Abandoning negative actions of physical, verbal and mental negativities and trying to institute positive ways of acting, thinking and speaking.
And dependence upon that as a basis, ethics as a basis, then we go on to develop a stable and extremely clear mind through development of meditative concentrations, meditative stabilizations. And dependence upon meditative concentrations, go on to develop the wisdom realizing emptiness. So these three in combination ethics, meditative stabilization and wisdom, in combination are the paths. These are the methods whereby we progress in development of all the necessary qualities which act as a cause to finally achieve the result of a happiness where suffering has been completely eliminated. So I’m going to make this clear through explaining an analogy.
So this analogy is quite easy, and then you’ll be able to understand the meaning of the analogy easily. So first, there’s someone who’s extremely ill. And this person, due to the illness, experiences a great deal of trouble, difficulties, a lot of suffering. So this person is undergoing various sufferings due to their illness. And they think to themselves, I wonder what’s causing my sickness and what’s the basis for my illness?
And they have a desire to find out why they’re sick. But simply that in itself is not going to help them to find out. They have to go to a doctor and the doctor examines and determines what is their illness. So having gone to the doctor’s office and he she explains the doctor examined you, and she explains to you that your illness is brought about by this various cause and this is the basis of your illness. And you begin to understand, oh yeah, that sounds right.
That sounds legitimate, that I can understand how that could bring about this illness. The doctor having explained the causes of the illness, there now arises in your mind, you know, I want to be well, so I have to get rid of these causes, the basis of my illness. So one has a desire to One has a desire to be cured, to get rid of this illness, to eliminate the sickness. And the doctor, upon examination, says that an operation is going to be necessary. And one goes along with it understanding that this operation will help in the curing of the illness and also is willing to go along with the operation and the various treatment, the taking of necessary medicines subsequent to the operation.
Explaining this analogy, that the sickness itself is an undesirable result. We simply don’t want it. And we want to be rid of it. And it arose in dependence upon an undesirable cause. So the undesirable result is our true sufferings.
Its undesired cause are our true causes of suffering. The desired result that we want is to be cured from our illness, the happiness which results, is cessation. The method for bringing about these true cessations, the cure, is the operation, the entire treatment process. This is the method and therefore this is the desired cause to bring about the desired result, and these are our true paths. And through this process, the patient then achieves an absence of any uncomfortableness that was previously brought about by the illness and no longer has to experience it.