Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 37-minute teaching, Lama Lhundup guides practitioners through the core practice of giving and taking, the heart of seven-fold mind training. He begins with the foundational breath-work: imagining black light carrying others’ suffering and causes of suffering drawn in on the inhale, while white light carrying one’s own happiness radiates out on the exhale. He then structures the practice around three types of objects—pleasing, displeasing, and neutral—and shows how to apply giving and taking whenever attachment, anger, or delusion arises in the mind. He addresses a key challenge: how to transform sickness, depression, and other difficulties encountered during practice into opportunities for compassion, turning them into fuel for developing bodhicitta. Throughout, he emphasizes the core logic: all happiness comes from others; all suffering comes from self-cherishing. He concludes with the importance of merit collection and dedication, and how to mentally respond to obstacles like spirit-caused illness. Aimed at practitioners familiar with Buddhist basics.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 06 7FMT.mp3
UUID: 84bcedef-a410-4aa0-af58-384650bfa0ae
Teacher: Lama Lhundup
Collection: Seven-fold mind training (Lama Lhundup)
Date: 1987 (exact day not recorded)
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 37.4 minutes
Words: ~1,854
Again and again giving and taking, giving and taking and if our practice goes well then we can begin to actually mount it on the breath. We begin to give and take using the breath. So then we can, using the breath, we imagine that this- that all the various sufferings of the sentient beings and the causes of suffering coming to us in the form of this black light through our nose, breathing in, comes down to a heart, and then in breathing out that that all our happiness and the causes of happiness are are sent out with our breath in the form of white light and dissolving into the sentient beings. So In training, there is said to be three objects. There are displeasing objects, pleasing objects and neutral objects.
So with respect to the three different types of objects, for example, the various types of forms, various sentient beings, we see pleasing forms, pleasing sentient beings, we develop attachment. When we see displeasing objects, we develop anger, hatred. And when we see neutral objects, we develop delusion or confusion, sometimes ignorance, called ignorance. So if we find that we have developed a generating attachment in our mind, we should immediately try to develop compassion thinking about how all sentient beings, about the attachment that all sentient beings have. So just like my own attachment that I have, the same type of attachment arises in all sentient beings.
So, you develop compassion for all sentient beings who have this attachment manifest at that time. Then we think that I am going to take on their attachment. And then we take on all the attachment in the form of black light which enters into us and dissolves into our heart. And having And then we cultivate a great joy in the virtue of having separated sentient beings from their attachment. Likewise, anytime we become angry, we should think that, you know, seeing our own anger and understanding that thinking about other sentient beings who now have this anger manifested in their mind just like ourselves and develop compassion for them and just as we did with desire attachment, take on this anger, separate them from this anger and take it in the form of black smoke which enters into us and dissolves at our heart.
Then thinking about the great virtue of having separated sentient beings from the anger, we rejoice in this, we rejoice in this, we take joy in this. Likewise, at those times when in our own mind the obstructions of unknowing or ignorance or delusion arise, and at that time we should consider the numberless sentient beings, infinite numberless sentient beings who are at this very present time manifesting the same obscuration of unknowing and develop compassion for them. Take on this their delusions into us and again cultivate the sense of joy and rejoicing in the virtue of having taken on the delusions of others. So in this training at this time we can also at this time when we are by ourselves we can train in the manner of making use of words. We think, may all the suffering — from the point of view, may the sufferings of all sentient beings ripen upon me now and may all my happiness ripen upon other sentient beings.
So, this is the actual training and development of the mind of enlightenment. So when we’re involved in this training there are times when we might get sick, when we might be unhappy. So sometimes we get, forget what they call in Tibetan, wind disturbance, energy disturbance, hypertension, something like that. So we shouldn’t do anything harmful. You know at those times when we get sick then we we shouldn’t become we shouldn’t give rise to disliking in our mind.
Okay. So so at those times when sick we shouldn’t get depressed. But we should think, Ah, this is the ripening effect of my practice of giving and taking. This sickness that I’m experiencing now is the fruit of, is the effect of my previous negative karma that I created. And this is in the same way that I’m experiencing suffering from the sickness, there are a number of sentient beings who are experiencing a similar type of suffering from sickness.
So again, we should think about, we should take on all the various, all the suffering. So thinking in this way, take upon yourself the suffering of the sicknesses of all the sentient beings and this suffering comes and dissolves into your own sickness, whatever that sickness that you have. Imagine that all these various sufferings of the sicknesses that you’re taking on of others that this suffering comes and dissolves into your own sickness. And then now and from having having done this practice, then we think that now the sentient beings are separated from the the suffering of of having to experience that their sickness, and we develop we rejoice in them.
So whatever we experience, if we get depressed, unhappy, any difficulties that arise, immediately we should think that this is the effect of my own self-cherishing. And and you think that, you know, this depression, this problem that I have now, that of all that other sentient beings, numberless sentient beings are experiencing exactly the same experience having the same depression and difficulties that I’m having now. And thinking this way, we we take upon ourselves their sufferings and there are causes of suffering upon ourselves. And then, again, we cultivate this sense of joy, rejoicing, and having separated the sentient beings from your suffering. Whatever we’re experiencing, unhappiness, depression, any of the difficulties that any of the sufferings that we experience in cyclic existence, where do they come from?
Where do they arise? They come from ourselves. And and once all of that of one’s own happiness that one experiences, all the good things that happen to you come from all these things come from others. So the great masters have said that, you know, whatever is good, whatever is a benefit, whatever is beneficial, should give away to others. And whatever all the various sufferings and faults we should take upon ourselves.
Why is that? Because all suffering arises from oneself, and all happiness arises from others. So the place from the place from where our own happiness comes from is others. And And the place from where our own suffering arises is from ourselves. So, you know, some person was extremely kind to us, perhaps he gave us money or food or clothes or something, we would develop a great liking for him and we would want to benefit him somehow.
So likewise, all the happiness that we experience comes from others so therefore we should develop and always be making efforts in the methods of bringing happiness to others. And make effort in the methods of eliminating the sufferings of others. So how can we destroy our self-cherishing? If we destroy it by only cherishing others, by taking upon the sufferings of others and giving away our happiness to them. And in this way our self-cherishing will gradually grow less and less and less.
So when we’re meditating, we can practice the taking of the suffering of others and give away our own happiness, but also all the time, whatever we’re doing, whether we’re working or talking, if some happiness arises in our mind at that time then we can simply give it to other sentient beings. If we get unhappy or depression then we can imagine the other sentient beings who are experiencing the same problem and we can take upon their suffering at that moment. So, you know, we can always be practicing whatever whatever arises, whatever conditions, whatever things happen to us, we can always transform and make them into a method for developing the mind of enlightenment. So in order for this meditation to go well, we need to collect merit. So the object of collecting merit is the Three Jewels.
And taking to mind again and again the Three Jewels, we make offerings to Three Jewels. And then then taking to mind the Three Jewels, we make a request that our training of the mind might be completed. And then we also must expose or confess our negative actions. So there are many harmful conditions such as demons and spirits. So during the course of our training, we may be harmed by spirits or demons.
We may, for example, there’s one type of thing called nagas and sometimes they bring a sickness. So as a part of our actual training then if at this time we can think, Oh, thank you. You’re being very kind to me. You are assisting me in developing my practice, developing the mind of enlightenment. Please, please give me more.
So if you, you know, if you feel afraid to ask for more of this sickness, then we can simply say say to these these demons, etcetera, you know, today, I’m training my mind for the sake of all sentient beings. So I would appreciate it if you didn’t disturb my practice and I will give you this food and ask not to be harmed. So if we’re carrying a very powerful practice training in the mind, there are special types of sickness that can arise. So at these times when these very especially when we’re carrying this very powerful practice and these illnesses arise, we can make requests to the Three Jewels in the form of: if this sickness is of benefit to sentient beings, may I get sicker? But if it’s beneficial that I get well, if for the sake of sentient beings it’s beneficial that I get well, may I get well quickly?
We we should meditate, cultivate the- think of the great kindness of sentient beings. That they’ve all shown us the great kindness of a mother of this life; sentient beings have shown us this same great kindness, but now they’re actually being tortured by suffering and develop the desire, the thought, that they be separate from their suffering and develop determination, I will eliminate their suffering. And they don’t have the happiness that they that they desire. And seeing that, we develop the love which thinks, I will bring them the happiness. I will join them with happiness.
I will place these beings in Buddhahood, in the state of Buddhahood, and then having meditated in this way, perform the practice of giving and taking. And then having completed the meditation, we dedicate all the merit, the virtue that we have created, that for the happiness of all sentient beings, that that all the fighting and sickness in the world may be pacified, eliminated, that sentient beings may always be led by spiritual teachers, that they may always have spiritual teachers that the teachings will last long. That also they may quickly attain Buddhahood. And in this way we dedicate the merit.