Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 31-minute teaching, Lama Lhundup explores how genuine happiness arises from cultivating boundless, impartial love and compassion for all beings. He diagnoses the problem with ordinary love: it remains narrow and conditional, extended only to those we favour while withheld from those we dislike. To transform this, he guides a concrete meditation practice: placing a liked person and disliked person side by side, then reflecting on how the “enemy” actually provides the greatest gift by offering us patience and the opportunity to practice virtue. This reframing reveals that all beings—whether friend or foe—show us equal kindness. From this equanimity, genuine love and compassion unfold, motivating ethical action that benefits others through body, speech, and mind. Lama Lhundup emphasizes that happiness depends entirely on this transformation: a mind filled with compassion remains peaceful regardless of circumstances, while suffering arises only from attachment, anger, and delusion. The teaching culminates in a guided visualization of sending light and happiness to all sentient beings and dedicating merit for universal enlightenment and peace.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 02 B and H.mp3
UUID: f131ae6f-8cf7-4146-a742-69c18e1ddaa5
Teacher: Lama Lhundup
Collection: Buddhism and Happiness (Lama Lhundup)
Date: 1987 (exact day not recorded)
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 31.4 minutes
Words: ~1,623
We have some love and compassion. But this is the limit. It’s it’s the matter. You know? Just whoever you like, plans, pride, you know, then you have love and compassion.
You don’t like personal, then you don’t show love. You don’t like love to them. So therefore, our love, compassion, whatever this limit and narrow. So this must need to change. So we should develop the loving compassion, which doesn’t hold some close and others distance.
That is, we should it should be a loving compassion which extends equally undifferentiatedly to all sentient beings. So, you know, we can for example, we can meditate and think that we have two people in front of us, one that we like and one that we don’t like, and we try to develop equal equality between them. Mhmm. Well, you you just trying to do it, you know? Just someone you don’t like, you accepting enemy.
Someone you like very much, too much show love to them. Right? So these two people, you know, just make balance, you know, together. You concentrate. You know?
Why show too much love to them? Why I I don’t like this person? No reasons. So actually, that person that we don’t like is extremely kind to us. Why kindness?
Because they show to you patience. Teach how to make practice patience. Without enemy, you cannot practice patience. So you fully respect him. Also, this person many times, you know, many times kindness us, many times helpless.
Also, did mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers. Also, right now, they’re showing kindness. By that patience, by that, if you practice for them, using them as object for this enemy, you have practice that patience, you easily get authentic true happiness. If you forget that first person, impossible. You never chance get that truth happiness.
Impossible. So this you you you get achieve this true happiness dependent on this enemy. So this enemy is very important for you. So so so therefore, very kind. So you mistake, you angry angry angry back to them.
So therefore, must need stop angry to them. Show kindness. Remember kindness. He brings to me true happiness. But I make mistake, big mistake, showing angry to him.
I shameful think like this. So therefore, these two person is first, you can also, this, I too much love. But this sometimes make harm to me. You know? Also, I desire so much, then this desire is negative action.
By this negative action, I get suffering many problems. So this both bring to me suffer. Why I too much love there? Why not love there? So therefore, this is two equal.
Also, these two people is same human being, Wish happiness, same, not they don’t want unhappy, suffer, same human being, same kindness for me. So therefore, So you develop equanimity object. These two people. No attack, no anger. What if you this not even not you don’t develop this equanimity, then even though you don’t get pure love to your parents and your parent, you know, parents or friend, whatever, you know.
Just this love too much love this one with mixing attachment, not pure. So by that love, then you have trouble, you know, to to each other. Trouble. You have experience. Right?
So if you have pure love, no mixed attachment, then never never each other no trouble. Never problems. Because that love is purely true love. So this person that we that we don’t like is merely the creation of our of our preconceptions. So we have to develop love equally for all people, you know, wherever or whoever they are.
You have developed that equally. It’s love. True love. You’re same country, not same country. Doesn’t matter.
Human being, no human being. If just being, then you must need to develop love. If you have that true love, then always you are peace. No problem with you. We’re all to problem, but you don’t have problem.
Because problem comes from mind. Right? So you have true love equally every all being. So never never unhappy. No suffer.
So that’s very important. This equal love, true love. So in order to develop this very powerful love, we have to again and again think of the great kindness of others. Again and again bring to mind their great kindness. As much as we can remember others’ kindness to that same degree will be the strength of our love.
So as much as we develop love, likewise, we have to develop compassion. So what do we what do we mean when we say compassion? It’s the courageous mind which upon seeing another tortured by suffering decides that I must eliminate their suffering. So when we say love, we’re talking about the ability the mind which, upon seeing anyone, does not merely just like them, but takes the thought that it wants to bring them happiness, that I must bring this person happiness, and we can develop this ability, increase it greater and greater. I wish, you know, I wish, you know, from my heart.
I wish, you know, him or her all the time become happiness. And, you know, wish I can make happiness. I wish him or her become happiness. So strong thinking. This this this this this energy need develop strongly or the you have that kind of energy strongly, then you you want any anywhere, any beings, you want to help directly.
You want, must. I can work work for them, make happy for them. You know? So work working for other, then you really happiness with enjoyment. Otherwise, you work for other, sometimes trouble.
Oh, this I’m gave up job, this one, trouble. Many many form is suffer, you know, problems. So you don’t want. If you have that feeling, strongly energy, then even the problem many people shouting with you, but, oh, then more want oh, more your strong energy, compassion. There are people showing showing strong crude mind to you, but you strongly more compassion coming.
So by this thinking, practice which thinking, meditate. By meditate, you have experience, then you have this one. Otherwise, just we we just talking easily, but then really work with other people, then problems. You know? Mhmm.
So therefore, we need by day practice true love and compassion. This, you know, thinking kindness. All being all being kindness for me all the time. So must be more I must need work for other beings, other sentient beings because all the time they kindness for me. So no must need, I kindness kindness repay for them.
Whatever they wish. So now I have fortunately, I mean, human being. I have human life opportunity. I understanding how to work for them. I understanding.
I have some wisdom. So I must need work for them. So you think, then you come in strong energy to to to to how to practice Dharma, how to do right things. Right means beneficial for other. You’re working by your mind, body, speech.
Working for beneficial others. Motivation. Motivation, love compassion. Through motivation, love compassion. Oh, then you working.
Those speech and working physical body, those all right. Right work, right speech, right thinking. Right wrongs depend on motivation. By attachment, by anger, jealous, pride, deluded mind, by this motivation, you work physical body, speech, and talking this this, then negative action. By negative action, you won’t get result suffer problem.
Also, to the other being also get suffer. By your anger, bring suffer to you other beings. We have experience. So by compassion through love this and bring all the time happiness. Never bring suffer, problem.
Only bring happiness through to you and others. So by this practicing so you see, remember, all living means kindness, and then most what they wish happiness, what they want, what they don’t want suffer. So most now you need work. Whatever you have, you have what kind of your knowledge, what kind of your wisdom you use. Right?
You know? You know? So one’s own excellent qualities are dependent upon making the effort to eliminate other’s suffering. So motivated by love and compassion, there is a tremendous benefit to drive in doing whatever we can through our body, speech, and mind to help others. Okay.
So now we meditate. So now you can visualize in your heart great love. Great love. With all living beings become fully happiness that you bring of strong energy. You open your mind, then you can think.
Strong bring that energy. Kindness of living beings with fully happiness. Strongly, you think. Strong compassion. And, also, you can just visualize round round you’re round all sentient beings.
You visualize. So remember, kindness all the time to you. Strong thinking. So now you have in the heart, with all living beings become happiness strongly. So that transform what light what what radiates light.
That that that that light through full in your mind and full your full in your body. Then sending to all around, all sentient beings. So now you think all living being received happiness. I wish all kindness all living being become happiness. So now I made happiness.
Just rejoice. So now we so now this moment time, we discuss listening Dharma with thinking Dharma beneficial for all sentient beings. So we, in careful, we nevertheless made merit. So we can dedicate all those merit. Fully achieve great enlightened mind.
We all, not just sentient being, we fully achieve great enlightened mind. Also, we dedicate our this merit by this merit, world peace. No war. All all being achieved through love and compassion, through wisdom. Okay.
Thank you very much. Alright. My last offering to you.