Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 32-minute session, Khensur Rinpoche traces the tight link between self-cherishing and ego-grasping — how each reinforces the other and deepens one’s entanglement in saṃsāra — before arriving at the resolve to exchange them. The heart of the talk is step-by-step instruction on tonglen, the taking-and-giving meditation. Rinpoche specifies the correct order: begin by taking your own future karmic suffering upon yourself, then extend to your mother, father, siblings, friends, neutral persons, and finally enemies. Breath carries the practice — black smoke inhaled bombards the self-cherishing thought at the heart’s center; white light exhaled sends happiness and virtue outward. He then outlines three phases of taking (ordinary suffering, delusions, subtle obscurations) and three of giving (perfect rebirth, material facilities for practice, qualified Dharma teachers). Suited to practitioners already working through the Lamrim’s great-scope topics.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 14 GS 1994 Easter.mp3
UUID: 6cfbc235-d928-4be6-8ef2-1970543e8432
Teacher: Khensur Rinpoche
Collection: The Great Scope (Khensur Rinpoche)
Date: 1994 (exact day not recorded)
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 32.0 minutes
Words: ~2,083
Through profound and patient familiarization training it is possible to come to that stage when one thinks others as dear, cherishable, and the thought cherishing others can be inclusive within the thought of compassion and loving kindness. And it is possible that these can be developed within one’s mind to such an intensity that previously the intense self-cherishing one has can be replaced, and the cherishing others can be so intense and strong to the degree one had self-cherishing so far in the past. Therefore, it is very true as Śāntideva advises as cited earlier that if one does not exchange one’s happiness with the sufferings of others in line thereafter, meaning one will not attain Buddhahood, and even in saṃsāra, there will be suffering. What it means is if one by considering others cherishable, dear, through that, if one sends one’s happiness to others, and by not considering oneself dear and cherishable in the sense self centered that one takes other’s suffering from oneself, then it is possible to attain all virtue qualities and enlightenment and so forth. Whereas if one is not able to do that — to send one’s happiness to others out of considering others important and taking others’ suffering upon oneself by not considering oneself alone as important —
Dear, if one is not able to do that, then as a consequence, the self-cherishing will never be able to get rid of. Instead, it will become stronger and stronger due to it, ignorance, the ego grasping again will become intense, more difficult to get rid of. This fact seemed to be true because there is definite relation between self-cherishing and ego grasping thought. If that happens, meaning if ego grasping intensifies, it will be extremely difficult to break away from the cycle of saṃsāra. One will continuously remain wandering in saṃsāra, the cycle.
Now then one has to come to the decision that I must exchange self-cherishing with thought cherishing others. This determination decision comes by understanding that self-cherishing is the door to all evil, all destruction for oneself and others, and cherishing others is the door to all, a virtue or benefit that comes from that. And when one does that, then that becomes the basis through which one can have the cause with the quality of loving kindness and compassion as a root cause. Therefore, one needs to then meditate on loving kindness and compassion. The point the relation of the point is that, you know, in order to intensify the thought cherishing other, it is related with the meditation, further familiarization with loving kindness and compassion.
Now, when one does that, then it is possible to intensify thought cherishing other. So in the course of doing meditation on compassion, one thinks, may all sentient beings be without suffering, be free of suffering. But on its own aspirational level, thinking or wishing that sentient beings will somehow be free of suffering — that itself, speaking relatively, is not sufficient, is not enough. Instead, one has to think about taking others’ suffering from others. So in that way, really making others free of suffering.
Therefore, here comes the practice of taking others’ suffering upon oneself. This fact is illustrated through the example if someone is having great deal of trouble carrying a big load of something, then it is not good enough to feel sympathetic and thinking oh, the person is in great trouble, unable to carry the thing, it would be relatively speaking to that fact. Although that sympathy is no doubt to be appreciated, but relatively speaking, it would be much more better if one does something and offer one’s help to carry the load by oneself and let the person be free of such trouble. Like that here, the meaning implies in a similar way that one needs to take others’ suffering upon oneself. This taking is done through the power of one’s mind — if you don’t mind me interpreting what it means — through one’s mental imagination and visualization, in that way one takes others’ suffering upon oneself.
Then we are on the eighth part of the series of thinking where, as just I had explained, through the power, through the special force of compassion, one does the taking of others suffering upon oneself. That it is with the meditation on compassion and through its force that one takes others suffering upon oneself. And the reason taking is because it is not efficient enough to let others be with suffering and from one side simply wish that others be free of suffering. One instead has to take upon oneself. Next then is through the special force of loving kindness, one sends, gives one’s happiness to others, all sentient beings.
Here again, loving kindness, that may others be with happiness and causes of happiness on aspirational level is not efficient and fruitful enough to actually bring about happiness to others instead, then does the additional practice of actually sending, giving away one’s happiness to all other sentient beings. This part becomes, with the special force of loving kindness, one sends one’s happiness to others, becoming the ninth part. Some may think that I cannot take others’ suffering upon myself. I don’t feel courageous enough, and therefore, some may think it is difficult practice to do. It is true that in the beginning it is certainly difficult, but as the instructions on these practices says, one starts the order of taking from oneself.
Accordingly, firstly, one does the taking practice by taking the suffering of oneself upon oneself. How that is done is the possible suffering in future one may have to experience due to karma one has created, one thinks that those possible sufferings are created by one’s karma. Now I will take that upon myself. So with that, when one takes upon oneself, it becomes the order of taking by starting from oneself. And meditating in this way, if after a a while one does not feel fearful and it is quite okay, one feels not fearful and quite okay to take one’s suffering upon oneself, then one can shift to next sentient being, such as to whom one feel most dear dearest of sentient beings, say one’s mother.
Take one’s mother’s suffering upon oneself. When that goes well, one’s father’s. When that goes well, then brother, sister. So that’s when you laughed about sister. And then you go to your friends, relatives, and then to a neutral person, and then to enemies.
And in that way, all sentient beings upon oneself. Now the actual process when one does the taking, one does it as the instruction advises, and throughout the lineage of teachers it is done by mounting on one’s breath. As one breathes in, one imagines taking the sufferings of others upon oneself with the incoming air, and one can think that sufferings come in the form of a black smoke along with the inhaling air into the nostrils. So one has to think it goes into your nose. That’s where the latter part was.
And one once it goes into your nose, you think a black smoke now bombards the self-cherishing thought, which one cherishes so much and which is at the center of one’s heart, one’s self, one’s mind. So think that the self-cherishing thought is now bombarded and destroyed. Of course, this practice needs great deal of courage and determination and therefore earlier in the previous sessions and yesterday and so forth, there was mention that this method of equalizing and exchanging oneself with others are for Bodhisattvas who are of great mental bravery and not just for any ordinary practitioners. So it needs a great deal of mental courage to be able to do that even in one’s starting meditation level. And then one does, with the force of meditation on loving kindness, the practice of sending one’s happiness and virtue to others.
And in this practice, again, the practice is mounted on breath. This is done by when one exhales, one thinks that one’s happiness and virtue goes out in the form of white light. So earlier was white light, here too white light. So earlier it was black smoke and here it is white light. So in the form of a white light instead of smoke.
So white light goes out. Now the order of who’s being sent and to whom one can be similar to the previous one, that one firstly, whatever future of virtues and happiness one is going to experience one meditates being sent towards oneself. And when that goes well, then one sends to one’s dearest ones, and then to friends and relatives. And then when that goes well to neutral people on sentient beings, when that goes well, then to even to enemies or people you think you are not in good terms with, all sentient beings are not in good terms with. And the moment the white light symbolic of the virtue and happiness being sent by you, sentient beings, you think that their state of rebirth is completely transformed into a precious human rebirth complete with excellent capability to do meaningful correct spiritual practice, Dharma practice.
In this way, you do inhaling and exhaling along with which these practices of taking and giving are done. One then in this second phase of the practice on taking and giving, one takes others’ impure thoughts, the delusions, the weaknesses of mind upon oneself. And others are freed of impure thoughts, the delusions in the form of black lights being received. Thirdly, one takes others subtle obscurations which are scripturally called the wisdom obscuration or ornamentally translated as obscurations to omniscience. So these subtle obscurations hindering a person from attaining omniscient state of all sentient beings are then taken upon oneself.
In the second part of the giving, one thinks that in the first, it was the perfect transformation of a human rebirth. In the second one thinks they now have perfect transformation of facilities, meaning material or any other facilities in order to do efficient and well Dharma practice. And in the third part, when you send, you think that they now receive perfect guide of Dharma such as Lamas, the reliable, compassionate, and wisdom for teachers through which way now towards the end you think all these sentient beings are so perfectly well equipped with all necessary factors and capability to do Dharma practice that they really are now about to generate their experiences, realizations of the path, and about to, in that way, about to become enlightened. In brief, that’s how then the practices of taking and giving are done. And these two are done with a special force of compassion and loving kindness.
In this way, these are meditated upon like that and familiarize with in order for the purpose to generate the thought cherishing others. That’s the purpose. But presently, by mentally meditating on these, familiarizing on these, that itself is extremely powerful in that one accumulates vast amounts of merits, merits which given shape would fill the entire limitless extent of the space. And in that way, in briefly, we can say such meditation are extremely helpful for one to have great great depth of purification and accumulation of merits. We do this meditation and also generally meditations and teachings are done also because through that one accumulates merits and have purification of negativities and obscurations.
And that is what’s called working of it. In that way it is important, it is necessary because when one accumulates merits, one receives the happiness which one wished to receive. And when one purifies negativities and obscurations, one does not receive suffering which one does not wish to receive. Well, these are meditated with the power of the mind. But if you look at the sentient beings after post meditation session with your eyes, sentient beings will remain unchanged, unenlightened, still ordinary with the sufferings and so forth.
But still, the point is in one’s meditation through the power of mind, one is trying to familiarize in being able to achieve those. Well, it may be asked, will it be possible that actually sentient beings can be free of imperfect rebirths, to be free of lack of facilities, to be free of guidance of teachers, and so forth? Well, it is possible. It is not something that is not possible to bring such accomplishments for them. The reason why that is possible is because we think