Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 32-minute commentary, Khensur Rinpoche opens with a historical detail that grounds everything that follows: before Je Tsongkhapa, the more advanced method of developing bodhicitta — equalizing and exchanging oneself with others — was kept secret and taught only to the most determined practitioners, while the seven-point cause-and-effect method was given publicly. He explains how Je Tsongkhapa combined both into a single eleven-part integrated sequence precisely to prevent the rarer method from dying out. Rinpoche then walks through all eleven steps — from equanimity through recognizing all beings as mothers, recalling their kindness, compassion and loving kindness, up to precious bodhicitta — before closing with practical guidance on meditating in the correct order and with daily consistency, illustrated by a banquet analogy and the image of a blind yak grazing haphazardly. Suited to practitioners following a Lamrim curriculum.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 07 GS 1994 Easter.mp3
UUID: a70471f8-aee7-4dc8-99fd-936b49874759
Teacher: Khensur Rinpoche
Collection: The Great Scope (Khensur Rinpoche)
Date: 1994 (exact day not recorded)
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 32.1 minutes
Words: ~1,935
Who have extremely great mental bravery and determination to achieve enlightenment to benefit all other sentient beings and not just about for anybody. Before Je Tsongkhapa arrived from Eastern Tibet to Central Tibet at that time, there were still practitioners of the Kadampa traditions who were called the earlier Kadampa tradition practitioners. This needs to be reminded because firstly, Je Tsongkhapa comes from eastern Amdo region of Tibet and prior prior to his coming to central part of Tibet, there were great popularity of the still existent earlier Kadampa tradition practices and so forth. And during that time, ever the teachings on mind of enlightenment was being given, if it was public open teaching, then the teachers would explain only only the seven point cause and effect way of developing mind of enlightenment, not the method of equalizing and exchanging oneself with others. In that way, the second method, the method of equalizing and exchanging oneself with others is considered as, say, secret only to be taught to those who are rigorously serious and determined in their practices and who really wish to achieve results in enlightenment to benefit others.
Later on, Je Tsongkhapa, coming from Eastern Tibet to Central Tibet, felt that if when giving instructions and public teachings on precious mind of enlightenment, how to develop it, if according to the prevalent prevalent system that the second method is to be kept secret and to be taught only to those of greatly bravery of mind, then it is extremely precarious way to maintain that there is risk of the instruction being lost, lack of continuity because of the reason he felt that it would be extremely difficult to find practitioners of such mental bravery and who would qualify to receive such instruction of high level quicker method. And due to such, he found that it would be good for the continued continued remaining of the teaching and existence of the teaching that occasionally he mentioned the quicker method, the more advanced as well while giving the other method, instruction on the other method. And consequently, for the sole benefit to have the instruction remaining preserved and to skillfully benefit the disciples, Je Tsongkhapa combined the two methods into one method and then explained that system. And his system and the whole tradition is of course called as the contemporary Kadam system, the new Kadam lineage.
And in this method, two ways of generating are combined generating precious mind of enlightenment are combined into one whole integrated method. In this way the two methods are combined into one and also when the two are combined there is the benefit that the whole method is extremely powerful, and for the qualified practitioner it could produce the actual precious mind of enlightenment in the quickest way. And due to such due to such reasons we can say that this integrated method can be seen as extremely precious with so much blessing with so much blessing. And this then is the combined integrated method. In the combined method where the two are integrated into one, that itself in the systems or in the lineages are of two alternatives, where in one alternative the method details down to eleven parts, meaning one method comprising eleven parts.
In a second alternative there is the method detailing into sixteen parts but we need not go into the difference between the two. The eleven part method is in the tradition of J. Pabongka Rinpoche and we might say it would be good that one goes with that method and keep that as the integrated method as one’s guideline, the eleven part one. In the eleven part method, we can look at it from bottom upward or top downward as cause effect or in fact reverse tracing the causes. Now let’s say if we take the cause, the first tracing the causes, then the eleventh one is the precious enlightened mind, precious bodhicitta.
And that is the eleven, and it is the result achieved. The preceding ten are the causes through which that result is achieved. So we can say the ten being the causes and the eleven, the result. Eleventh is the precious mind of enlightenment, the resultant. And then the exalted thought is the next tenth.
To have exalted thought, one has to proceed by the one next one, which is by the force of meditation on loving kindness, one sends happiness from oneself to others. Preceding that is the meditation on compassion through which one takes the other’s sufferings upon oneself. Our that is the awareness that cherishing others is the basis or the source of all excellent qualities. Preceding that is the awareness that self-cherishing is the door or the roots, whichever way is the roots of all evils, all shortcomings. Therefore, to be forsaken.
Preceding that is the awareness that, like oneself, all other sentient beings equally do not want suffering and equally do want happiness. The thought of equanimity here, the equanimity is called the special equanimity. It is distinct, so it is a special equanimity. Preceding that is the remembering to repay others’ kindness. Preceding that is the remembering others’ kindness which is of two parts, just remembering others’ kindness and special remembering of others’ kindness.
Two combined into one, making remembering others’ kindness. Preceding that is the recognition of all beings as one’s mothers. Preceding that is the equanimity here. This equanimity is different to the previous one because here the equanimity is the equanimity free of discrimination of closeness to some and distant with others. That equanimity.
On eleven. Eleven. Sorry. It’s eleven. Have you got all?
No. Have you all written down some? Two are just the two. Yeah. Should have written down.
Yeah. It’s good to take note later on because it’s good for your mind not to forget these instructions. If you can develop these, then no doubt it’s extremely wonderful. Even if you cannot develop these, at least to remember the order and the least intact without any mistake in the order of the thought development. It can be extremely beneficial because occasionally if you do get time to spend formal meditation or thinking on this, it is so powerful that merits accumulated would be so much as filling the entire extent of the limitless space.
So in that way, it would be good to keep in touch with the list in one way or the other. Yeah. So the. You might feel that you have got them in your mind at the moment, but it’s possible but it’s possible you might forget them. And therefore, it would be good to have them actually written.
But in the in the case of those in the case of those those who are doing meditation, of course, there is no risk of forgetting them forgetting them, so it will be their intact. But, of course, the meditation has to be regularly every day. It’s not like someone who feels when things are going good feels like meditating but has forgotten completely the least. So that wouldn’t help. Instead, if you haven’t written the book, then I would be good as a reference.
Yes, Linda? Now here when you do pick up meditation practices, to start with, it would be very significant and extremely vital that one first make sure what one has to meditate on is wholesome, meaningful, it’s the right. Because there are obviously so many topics of meditation, meditation, so many topics of spiritual development. So one needs to make sure the one which one is going to meditate on is not going to waste one’s time and so forth. It has to be meaningful.
Looking at an example, it would be like when there’s a big banquet and all sorts of items of delicious foods and some not so delicious, but presentation are put on there. Then as a guest, you can watch from distance before picking up which one you might choose looks quite best. And then go about, and if you even have a very little, it is very little amount put onto your plate. It is extremely nourishing and so forth. And someone who doesn’t know the quality of the food may go about picking everything of the items and has has a whole full of plate with different items.
And each, when eaten, doesn’t taste well and makes complete full of oneself. So that’s possible in an example. Similarly, here one has to be very sure that what one is going to meditate on, it’s wholesome, reliable, and so forth. And secondly, when one does the meditation, it has to be in the right order one after another and with consistency on everyday level. For example, some may meditate on the first point but may drop the second or third, and then go on to the fourth, and then go on to the next one, but drop one in between.
And similarly, some may just meditate on few days and then drop out completely, and then later on pick up pick up after some days when one feels quite things are going okay and feels in the mood to do that. But in the actual actual producing of realization, one will never produce any realization in such a way of meditation. In this way, what one meditates, one meditates today, retains the tomorrow, day after tomorrow consistently, and in the ordered method where what one does meditate on the lower definitely helps the previous one next on the topic, next topic on the line. And that as well, when doing meditation helps the one previous one going to come next in this way, the order and consistency have that significance. There would be definite production of definite generation of realizations experiences on the spiritual grounds and path.
There won’t be any inconsistency and something missing out which builds up to producing experiences and realization. Realization. Opposite and contrary to this would be the inconsistent dropout and the structure is not done well. And example normally given is the dull or the female yak who female yak who, in the case if they’re blind, when they eat grass on the pasture, they eat some piece grass here and some over there, some over there. It’s never eaten well.
And also, the animal itself does not have a stomach flu, and the pasture as well is left quite shabbily and even not when done. So that’s an example, and it is given as an example of inconsistency, dropout, and wrong structure in the order of one’s approach to a reliable method. Anthony, is that because India was India, there we have sometimes, like, a big party banquet, and there would be all sorts of very delicious items of food placed on momos and bread momos and different types of vegetables and all sorts of other items on the menu. And in my case, normally, I watch firstly from distance which one is the best. Then which whichever is the best, I put most of that in the plate.
And then just very rarely, we’ll have a few pieces of vegetable and a few pickles on chili. That’s all there is. If you pick a little bit of everything, then you already have a full plate. And when you eat, some obviously doesn’t taste well, so you don’t have enough fill. But if you go and put more of the what you like, the plate is filled.
So you’re left unable to do anything and not have a good feet. If you have any questions, we have a few minutes.