Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. Khensur Rinpoche opens this 32-minute commentary with a vivid analogy: a stage comedian in costume — unrecognizable until he speaks — explains why we fail to identify past-life mothers in their new bodies. The session works methodically through the sevenfold cause-and-effect method for generating bodhicitta, covering each stage in sequence: recognizing all sentient beings as one’s mother through the logic of beginningless rebirth and the four modes of birth; remembering their ordinary and “special” kindness, which extends even to moments when they were not one’s mother; and forming the determination to repay that kindness. Rinpoche then introduces Śāntideva’s special equanimity — the firm, reasoned conviction that no being deserves differential treatment — before turning to the evils of self-cherishing thought, tracing all samsaric suffering back to ego-grasping and the self-centered mind. Suited to practitioners already working through the Lamrim sequence.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 11 GS 1994 Easter.mp3
UUID: 7761ba7e-70c2-40b4-ae41-112c352112b3
Teacher: Khensur Rinpoche
Collection: The Great Scope (Khensur Rinpoche)
Date: 1994 (exact day not recorded)
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 31.8 minutes
Words: ~2,118
The mind during the part or intermediate state, and that aspect came in continuation from previous lives that and that before the intermediate state and death and so forth. In this way the mind has been flowing continuously in existence, flowing into beginningless time in the past. There was no beginning. Now if there was there was no beginning. Therefore from beginningless time we have been being born and reborn and born and reborn countless times.
Now if that was the case then during those rebirth there must have been many countless occasions we have been born as child to a mother and father. So there must have been countless occasions sentient beings have been or our mother because it is not possible for one single sentient being to continuously since beginningless time be our mother. So in this way there must have been alternative, like alternate, and other sentient beings who have been our mother. Now this as well is proved by going into four ways a birth takes place generally with sentient beings. Four possible ways of being born: birth from womb, birth from egg, birth from heat, and magical or instantaneous birth.
And there must have been countless times we’ve been born as a birth from womb and from egg. And if we have been born in that manner we must have had mother. And this goes to show that there must have been occasion countless times, countless sentient beings have been our mother when we were born in the manner of birth from womb and from egg. Another perspective it may seem that the number of rebirth we have taken exceeds the number of sentient beings even though sentient beings are countless in number. So if that many countless amount of rebirth we have taken then there must have been occasion of countless times we’ve been born as a child to mother.
There must not have been therefore any sentient being amongst the sentient beings who has not been our mother. And briefly then one meditates on how sentient beings have been one’s own mother through this way of, yeah, how they would have been. Therefore, there is not any sentient being who has who has not been one’s mother. And in that way if they have been our mothers then they have been equally kind to our mother of this life. And if they have been equally kind to our mother of this life then there is not any sentient being who has not benefited or has not helped us because our mother while being our mother has helped us enormously benefited us enormously and that’s the case.
If that’s the case then although sentient beings have been other sentient beings have been our mother in the past not in this life but that does not negate their importance as having helped, they are equally important and kind because they are helpful like our mother of this life. It would be similar someone who helped you last year and someone who helped you this year the two should be seen equally kind same as someone who hit you with a stick yesterday and someone who hit you with a stick today both have hit with a stick. It might be us, well, if they are our mother, why can’t we recognize as them as our mothers? Well, the reason is because our soul, we have we have changed our body, that we have forsaken the previous body and assumed this life’s body, and we have changed our body. Similarly from the mother’s part they have changed their body transform by forsaking the previous rebirth’s life’s body and assuming different in this life.
If the body remained unchanged, unforced then there is a possibility we might recognize who our mother was and whose child of which mother was it and so forth. It is due to change in the physical appearance one of the reasons that we don’t recognize. Example would be a comedian on the stage may appear in different costume while being the same comedian but the spectators may not recognize only maybe if the comedian speaks or raises voice then they might have a doubt or it must be the same person. So a comedian may come with a different costume, different mask and change drinks a sort of scenes may appear differently. Like that, yes, there’s a change in the body.
When one comes then to recognize that all sentient beings have been one’s mother, then one applies the reasoning, then they must have been equally kind to my mother of this life because my mother of this life have been kind. This is classically speaking in the right context without social change and so forth in its context. Must have been kind as mother of this life because I can recollect and go through the nourishing how much she has cared for me and how much looked after me and so forth. Forth. And we can even see the kindness of mother of this life by watching animals, how they protect their babies, look after them in feeding, protecting, defending and so forth, and how much they go about in trying to do that.
Similarly, we can relate by such way of reasoning that in this life our mother too has been kind in that way. And when that thought of reasoning goes well that will bring about the next part of the thought, the training, the remembering of sentient beings’ kindness. Our remembering of kindness is of two remembering the kindness of sentient beings because of them being kind when they have been our mother is the remembering of kindness itself. The special special remembering of kindness is the remembering of kindness of sentient beings at the time when they have not been our mothers. In that part one remembers their kindness such as whether we are sitting in our places, whether we are going about outside, or whatever activities we are doing, we depend on others’ contributions, on others’ effort, on others’ work, and so forth.
In our own comfort, happiness and so forth. So much is dependent on other’s effort, kindness and so forth. So in this way one remembers that others have been kind to oneself even the time when they have not been one’s mother. More specifically one can go into extensive thinking that everything in one’s spiritual spiritual practices would directly or indirectly would as well depend on sentient beings. The whole practice of developing loving kindness, compassion, both each other and later on attaining enlightenment, they all depends one’s practice depends in relation of their being as sentient beings without which there won’t won’t be.
Through this way of looking at how kind and contributive all sentient beings are to one’s happiness and benefit. One feels a sense of they are kind and that is meant by the special remembering of kindness. In all matters of present and ultimate benefit and happiness of oneself, sentient beings are extremely kind. And because of that one now looks at the conditions sentient beings are presently at. Their condition is that they want happiness, they are destitute of happiness.
Their condition is that they do not want suffering and they are tormented continuously by suffering. They have as well impure impure thoughts, the weaknesses of mind which brings about continuous lack of happiness and suffering. They don’t have the eye of wisdom, the wisdom sorting out what is correct practice and what is to be discarded away. They don’t have a lama or teacher who shows them what is to be adopted to a practice and what is to be discarded away. There is none.
So in this way they are extremely in a poor destitute needy state. Their situation is like that now from my side while encountering such a correct and meaningful spiritual path, the Dharma path, and being capable of thinking in the right way and have the ability I must repay their kindness. I must do something about their welfare. In that way I must repay their kindness. One thinks in that way.
This thought, decision or the conclusion in one’s thought of wanting to repay the kindness and making the determination that I must repay their kindness is the part called the remembering to repay the kindness. So far then we had first equanimity, then the recognition of sentient beings as one’s mother, third remembering of their kindness, and fourth repaying of their kindness. Now when these four are meditated upon, where the next three in combination with the first the are done in an integrated practice, then the delightful, cherishable, destitute attitude towards sentient beings, which is the loving kindness is something naturally produced by this method of by this method, the four combined. Fifth one is the special equanimity which is an equanimity different from the first equanimity because in the first part the equanimity is same equanimity, near absence of attachment and hatred, distance, and closeness. Whereas here, the special equanimity is much more powerful compared to the first equanimity.
Here, the equanimity means the thought thinking like myself. All sent beings equally do not want suffering. Like myself all sentient beings equally do want happiness. Therefore it is not right to look with sentient beings as to be treated differently. One must have equal dedication for all with that reasoning and this is the special equanimity equanimity and one’s attitude really makes a very firm decisive conclusion thinking that all sentient beings must be seen as equal.
There is no reason that there should be even slightest of discrimination at all. And this is the special equanimity taught by the teacher, Śāntideva. Now next after the special equanimity is the instructions again coming from Śāntideva’s method which is thinking about the evils of self-cherishing thought. The dis the destructiveness of destructive outcome of self-cherishing thought that self-cherishing in any way or perspective is definitely damaging. One can think on that part.
What is self-cherishing thought and how it functions? To start with, firstly there is ego grasping thought, the ignorance mind grasping onto misconceived notion that there is independent ego or self identity truly existing. So that part of ego grasping is there thinking the self or identity is independently separate from the aggregates, separate from the body, separate from the aggregates and so forth. Then there is the out of that ego grasping there is the self-cherishing thought considering oneself very dear and cherishable. In a way ego grasping and self-cherishing are they do resemble are alike and quite similar but the way they produce ego grasping is the main root source.
So in this way one considers oneself dear, cherishable, the nature of that self-cherishing then is an attachment considering attached to oneself. Out of such ego grasping and attachment mind definitely whatever actions one does, whether bad actions, mean, which will bring destructive results and so forth. Why that is so is because out of such state of thought, ego grasping and self-cherishing, whatever one does will be non virtuous such as one would engage into killing, stealing, sexual misconduct and the rest of the ten non virtuous actions to explain in briefly or to mention in briefly. If one does that then the consequences one suffers from having committed such actions will be equally great, they definitely will be tremendous suffering and so forth. Out of such thinking whatever miserable experiences one receives one can trace it back to the self-cherishing thought combined with this ego grasping thought.
In this way all unwanted experiences, all unwanted results one faces are the outcome of the self-cherishing thought. It is then that self-cherishing thought is the source of all destructive outcome. One thinks in that way and realizing that one makes determination to get rid of this self-cherishing thought. In the context of the practice, it is the practice of seeing the evils of the self-cherishing thought. Everything that we experience as being circling, wandering in the cycle in saṃsāra can be traced as an outcome of self-cherishing thought combined with the ego grasping.
Therefore all that happens to us and the very fact that we are in cyclic existence can be traced in that way. Another way of looking at how destructive self-cherishing thought in its way of function is because out of considering oneself dear, the self-cherishing wishes happiness for oneself alone and it goes about in trying to achieve happiness for oneself alone at the without the sensitivity and without the awareness about how the method one goes about goes about would hurt others and so forth. Because one is completely absorbed.