Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. Opening with the unsettling fact that even accomplished bodhisattvas have abandoned their vow when overwhelmed by the enormity of working for all beings, Khensur Rinpoche uses this 18-minute session to explain why compassion is the essential force at every stage of the Mahāyāna path. Drawing on Candrakīrti’s Entering the Middle Way, he traces its role at three points: drawing practitioners into the great vehicle path, preventing them from forsaking bodhicitta mid-journey, and compelling a fully enlightened Buddha to manifest in countless forms rather than rest in a static state. The required intensity is illustrated with a line from the Guru Puja: a practitioner of genuine compassion would willingly endure Avici — the deepest hell realm — for eons for the sake of a single being. Suited to students already engaged with the Great Scope.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 08 GS 1994 Easter.mp3
UUID: 4713d8f8-2e0e-4828-856b-cafc3e38d644
Teacher: Khensur Rinpoche
Collection: The Great Scope (Khensur Rinpoche)
Date: 1994 (exact day not recorded)
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 18.5 minutes
Words: ~996
So far, had the list of the eleven and the correct order of them. And then later on, we’ll go through each of them, what remembering of kindness and special remembering of special kindness or special remembering of kindness actually is love and similarly starting from the bottom the equanimity will go through each of them in a way to help the understanding of each of them in meditation. So we’ll do it next. Yeah. In a way, if one does that one develops compassion, for taking one develops compassion and forgiving one develops loving kindness and then the actual practice happens.
So the question would be nullified by itself. Yeah. Meaning because when one does the taking of sufferings to other it has to be preceded by meditation on compassion. So there is the thought wanting to remove others suffering. And similarly similarly with loving kindness, so it is nullified by itself.
So I didn’t realize when translating that phone. Any other question? Well, even in general ordinary cases when someone does not think of a possible task or responsibility one is going to take and accepts it without taking it, then when one actually is confronted with the responsibility to implement task, one feels overwhelmed thinking I can’t do it. So that happens even in normal cases. Now in the case of bodhisattva and those generating enlightenment mind, that obviously happens.
Happens that being overwhelmed by the enormity of the task and feeling to back down. For example, have been cases of bodhisattvas who generated the mind of enlightenment already, enlightened mind already, and later on when they actually engage into the practices and activities to benefit others, they feel always extreme, they felt that it’s extremely long duration and for so many number of sentient beings I can’t endure that. And Then gave up forsake the dedication to benefit for all sentient beings. They gave up that dedication and instead worked firstly for for their own welfare. And in that way, go back or fall into the lower vehicle determination.
It did happen even in the case of Bodhisattvas. Now when one has to generate the precious mind of enlightenment, one, no doubt, has to have the causes which produces the mind of enlightenment, of which the most important and strong are the loving kindness, compassion and exalted thought. So it would mean one needs to first develop those with great intensity and at such an advanced thoroughly trained level through repeatedly meditating on them and thinking about sentient beings, miserable situation and so forth. Especially amongst the three, more the more the force of compassion is, more there will be the willingness to endure the hardships involved in working for others. It is with the force of the compassion that that happens.
For example, when one has an extremely strong force of compassion, then one would even think of not minding to endure sufferings in the extremely tormented realm for even for the sake of one sentient being, that the person, the practitioner would think to benefit this particular sentient being, no matter whatever I have to do to bring happiness and remove suffering, that through my activity, even if I fall down to the extremely tormented realm for eons, I’m still willing to do that. There is undaunted determination and willingness to go into that. Here when there is the mention of eons that is extremely long duration, amazing, like an incredibly, undurably long duration. Still the person, the practitioner is willing to do that and it’s for the sake of one sentient being. Not to talk about if it involves the benefit of so many sentient beings, no doubt there will be more willingness and undaunted determination to engage more so, although the consequences may be suffering, meaning the method one applies and so forth.
In Therefore, yes, one needs to develop the intensity of compassion and those requirements. As in Guru Puja, there is the line which says, may I complete perfection of diligence not to be daunted by the staying in Avici for hundreds of eons, even for the sake of one sentient being, but to work for. In this way, yes, when one does practice to develop precious mind enlightenment, that is the amount of intensity of diligence, the endurance produced by strength of compassion and others. In his classical teaching, the text Entering the Middle Way, says the compassion important in all three stages, in the beginning of the great vehicle path, in the middle, and at the end of the great vehicle path. It is extremely admired because of its importance throughout the initial, middle and end stages of one’s spiritual practice in the great vehicle part.
The reason for that is in the case of the importance of the middle stage, it is by the force of compassion that the bodhisattva does not forsakes bodhicitta, enlightenment mind, and fall to the lower vehicle determination. Instead, the force of compassion retains the bodhisattva’s determination to go through. To look at the three importances, well, in the beginning it is due to the force of compassion that potential practitioner gets entered into the great vehicle mental path of enlightenment. And then in the middle, is the force of the compassion through which the practitioner still maintains the mental development in the great vehicle path by not forsaking the determination. And towards the end, when enlightenment, the Buddhahood is achieved, it is the force of compassion which does not make the Buddha, the enlightened being, to remain ideal in state to actively engage in benefiting sentient beings through ways such as by the force of compassion manifesting oneself in hundreds and thousands of transformations appearing at the same time in all these multitudes of numbers manifestation in diverse parts of the universe of fulfilling the needs of different sentient beings.
In this way, yes, it is a compassion which is the force behind in all three stages. Okay.