Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 46-minute talk, Lama Lhundup teaches on patience as the third step of the Graduated Path, starting with a foundational principle: we create our own suffering through karma and negative mind-states, not through external harm. He explains how anger arises—only when an unhappy mind meets harm—and argues that protecting our own peace is more valuable than blaming others. Using the image of leather-soled shoes in a land of thorns, he shows that controlling anger is more practical than trying to change the world. He then moves to voluntary acceptance of suffering as essential to Dharma practice, comparing the hardships a farmer endures for one year’s harvest to the perseverance required for liberation. The talk closes with purification methods for past negative actions: developing strong regret, visualizing Buddha, and applying the four powers of purification. Direct and practical, aimed at practitioners ready to engage seriously with these teachings.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 12 GP.mp3
UUID: 0ef3315b-7fc3-4efb-ac62-a59128d4a7b2
Teacher: Lama Lhundup
Collection: The Graduated Path (Lama Lhundup)
Date: 1987 (exact day not recorded)
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 46.4 minutes
Words: ~2,591
So usually we place the blame for harm on something outside of us, but actually the basis for the the main basis for all the harm that we experience is ourselves. One’s own individual karma. If we can remember this, when we develop anger, if we remember that this is truly arising from my karma, then this thought will destroy anger. Anger will be pacified, become less. This anger that you develop, where does it come from?
How do we become angry? How do they arise in anger? So how do we generate anger? First, there is someone who harms us, and then we become unhappy. Because we developed this unhappy mind acts as a condition for the development of anger.
Cause for generating anger is an unhappy mind. Though we’re harmed by others, if our mind is Though we may be hurt by others, if our mind is not unhappy, we are not going to become angry. Therefore, we have to cease unhappy minds. We need stopping unhappy mind. So we we have, you know, we have many reasons for why we’re unhappy.
Mhmm. With them. You know? He harms to me. He harms day.
He harms my wife, my husband, my child, my wife, my country, my friends. You know, we have many reasons thinking. You know? So what what is the you know, these various reasons that we give for developing anger, what is the actual fruit? Is that our own happiness, our own peace, is disturbed.
So indeed it is your own peace. Somebody shoot you, they cannot destroy it. Even your life destroyed, but your peace cannot destroy it. Right? So who destroyed your peace?
Oh, this comes from our our own side, we ourselves destroyed our own peace. What we have is peace, and therefore we need to understand how to maintain our normal peace. Keep your own peace nicely. Don’t destroy it. If you have peace and happy, then not not not generate unhappy.
So they’re not unhappy, then not become anger. So then always your happiness. Everything. Oh, how can I be patient? So many enemies.
Oh, so many people harm. You know? So how I can patient so many, nevertheless, beings? How I can patient? In a place, in a country which is covered with thorns, and you know, if you walk in such a place, you get your feet get stuck with thorns, that it would not be possible to cover that entire area with leather in order to protect your feet.
But if we simply cover the bottom of our feet with leather, it’s as if we covered the entire area with leather. It has the same effect. Likewise, though we’re hurt by many people, if we do not become angry, no one becomes our enemy. If we destroy our we destroy if we overcome our anger, then we’re always going to be happy. Amongst the three realms, within the form and formless realms, there are the seeds of anger, but there is no manifest anger.
They are continually abiding in contaminated pleasure or happiness. They’re always happy. So where where is the is anger actually experienced? It’s experienced in the desire realm. So we have to make we have to make effort in a method for not for the not developing anger.
For example, the bodhisattva, though his life is taken, he doesn’t become angry. So the hearers, the hearers have abandoned anger, and therefore, with respect to their life, even when their life is in danger, they don’t return with anger. They don’t become angry. Hearers who are working only for their own liberation, don’t return anger for harm received. And we who are seeking we who are practitioners of the of the great vehicle trying to attain Buddha for the sake of all sentient beings definitely must abandon anger.
The second type of patience was voluntarily accepting suffering. The reason we can’t continuously practice the Dharma is because of this, we aren’t able to voluntarily accept suffering. So in order to practice Dharma, you must be willing to undergo suffering voluntarily. So, you know, we can look at traders, businessmen, farmers, how much difficulty they go through in working only to benefit themselves for this life only, how much suffering they experience. As a farmer, we can look at all the various sufferings that he goes through, such as sufferings of hot and cold and hunger, etcetera.
All the difficulties he experienced in planting and and cultivating just for just to get fruit, just to get the harvest only for one year. The difficulties he was willing to experience. But he’s willing to forbear in this suffering. If this farmer is willing to go through all that great difficulty and suffering one year of work, labor in the field, then how much should we be willing to forbear when we’re trying to attain liberation and Buddhahood? In the practice of Dharma we need to cultivate the mind of patience.
You know, in meditation, when the realizations aren’t coming, then we must be patient and we must forbear the difficulties when we’re studying, the difficulties of not being able to understand the subject, and we have to push on for bear. So we have to complete the conducive conditions for the attainment of our goal that is Buddhahood. If we do not complete the conducive conditions, then there’s no way that we can achieve the attainment. In order to complete the conducive conditions, we must go through difficulties. Therefore, we must be willing to persevere in our difficulties.
Voluntarily accepting suffering is very important. By forbearing and suffering for the purpose of Dharma, we purify a great deal of negative karma. Further, by seeing one’s own suffering, then we develop the compassion for other’s suffering. And by experiencing this suffering, because we experience this suffering, that we investigate what is the cause, and therefore, this leads us to abandon the cause, that is, the negative actions. What we desire is happiness, and the cause of happiness is virtue, and it helps us to cultivate the causes for happiness.
So the Buddha said that it’s extremely important to understand the nature of suffering. So in order to understand the nature of suffering, we have to meditate on it. If you do not realize suffering yourself, then you cannot develop renunciation. Without without the understanding of suffering, there’s no renunciation. So the the third type of of patience.
Patient with respect to Dharma. Forbearing in the Dharma, sometimes you may think that there’s numberless realizations and the path is endless, but still persevering in our practice of Dharma. In order to attain Buddhahood, must train in these three types of patience. Definition of patience. Patience.
So the definition of patience is the mind which does not become upset. Agitated. Oh, anyway, just just what is very important, we need to keep continuing, need patience, not to become angry. What is angry cause? Unhappy.
So we must need stop unhappy. Keep continuous happiness. Right? Right. Alright.
So now question. Yeah. Is there such a thing as controlling anger? Controlling anger. Controlling anger.
Then? Control. Control the anger. Control the anger. How to control what do you think?
Oh, yeah. If you want you you want to play with your anger, you can. And how you play? If your anger rising, then you can take all sentient beings’ anger and absorb it into your anger. Yeah.
This must, you know What happens, you know? Then destroy. Then who will work? The anger. Yeah.
The anger. By bringing all other sentient beings’ anger into yours, absorbing it into your anger. Visualize your anger. Something form. So so then you look at, you know.
You think you think you destroy it, destroy it. Of also, you can think taking in your so now my anger is too big. My anger all sentiments anger. I take all. So now I’m just too big, not enough place in in in my my my body is too small, not enough.
So big, heavy. Where is? Look. Oh, I’m you know? This is my mind substituting something big.
Where is? Never found. Past anger, future anger, now, not really exist. Empty. Never found it inside.
Just use investigation, investigating, and it’s not there. If you check, you become less angry. Then you you okay. Angriness concentrate. Right?
Mhmm. Alright? I just I just think if you’re in very difficult situation Yeah. With with who? With the student?
Or yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Right. Then? Well, I was just thinking sometimes anger is very strong. Yeah. And I need to open up.
Situation. Yeah. You can say, hi. Maybe you could release it. Anger open.
You say anger open or what? What? Just thinking that the energy of anger is very strong. And maybe if everything is very pressing in Mhmm. Then that energy can, you know, create space to push away.
Mhmm. Yeah. You can. Just just push away means you’re shouting or what? If somebody is very angry with some person.
Mhmm. So then how you you’re just shouting. Then after all finish. Isn’t it? You you how to use like this or not?
Isn’t it? Shout if shout and fight, then after finish, what anger wants is the result they come. So you want like this. Yeah? It is messy.
It’s not it’s very even I think No. No. Any anger is just negative. You know? What definition of anger?
No. Definitely negative. You cannot. It just you can see anger just rising. You realize, recognize.
So then just get just yourself, you just watch how to anger doing. Just watch. You know? And you watch. They cannot grow.
Also, regarding the object, think emptiness. Where am I angry? To who? Where? What that person where?
Just you think emptiness. They not grow. Also, you think impermanent. One moment ago, that person said that to me. So that is gone.
Past. This this is the person’s new. Just now exist. Not past. I’m stupid.
What are you doing? Thinking. We just meeting together. It’s just minutes. Why are you fighting with him?
Must you communicate with him? Become friendly. We’ll never meet again for a long time. Just minutes, minutes, Hello. Hello.
Hello. Just going past. What are you doing? Just use yourself just talking like this. Treat treat you yourself.
So then just they’re they’re not coming. Right? Yeah. Something like this. Well, many opportunities.
Oh, okay. Great. Great. Thank you. What can you do about past negative actions like anger?
Oh, if you have done it. Oh, there is this kind of teaching too. You have to confess. Confession? Confession, if you remember what you’ve done.
So then excuse, you know, just you can visualize Buddha and whatever, you know. Just very sorry and did mistake, very sorry, strong by heart. You know? Then from now, I don’t do. So very sorry, you know, excuse.
So then if you have Buddha before you, take in light, breathe it in. You know? Alright? Mhmm. Yes.
So the Buddha said, if you do this, even if you have negative actions, doing this changes the negative action. You do confession, and soon the negative is everything’s gone. Also, both Buddhas say so. Right? Okay.
If you regret if you regret it if you have regret for past anger Mhmm. That that that wipes it out. Does it wipe out the bad effect? If you regret having done something badly Mhmm. Something bad Past you’ve done.
Then as long as that regret is is genuine from the heart, is that make up for that bad deed? Yeah. Bad deed, you can remember it. The deed. Regret it and Yes.
You Yes. That works. Yes. Clean. Become clean.
Right? Right. Alright. Something else? Yeah.
Is it gone because First of all, the method of purification is that we develop a strong mind of regret for the negative action, that we engage in some method such as visualizing Buddha before us, making prostration, having white nectar flow into us, and purifying this negative action. And then there are certain signs that arise which indicate that our negativities have been purified. For example, in dreams. If we dream that we are drinking milk, if we dream that we’re flying through the sky, or that we’re meeting with many holy beings, monks, spiritual community, then these are signs that our purification has been complete. If these come continually, these signs in your dreams, purification is complete.
Right. So no matter what what how much of a great how great or negative action that we’ve done, through the through the application of the four powers, we can purify any any type of negative action. Power of reliance. The power of antidote. The power of regret. The power of determination not to repeat.
Power of reliance. Power of antidote. And the power of determination not to repeat. So there there are two objects with respect to we that we create negative actions, either the Buddhas or sentient beings. If we created a negative action with respect to sentient beings, we meditate on the mind of enlightenment.
If we create a negative action with respect to the Three Jewels, then we we we develop a mind of going for refuge. So these are the first this is the first power, the power of reliance. So the second is the power of antidote. Whatever type of virtuous action we engage in, in order to purify, becomes the power of antidote. So among the various types of the methods for various types of antidotes that we engage in, the supreme is meditation on emptiness.
Also, if we, you if we if we find if we don’t understand how to meditate on emptiness, then we can make use of the hundred syllable mantra of Vajrasattva. Or the names of the thirty-five Buddhas. By taking to mind the thirty-five Buddhas. By by simply taking to mind the the Śākyamūni Buddha, and we can purify many, many eons of negative actions. Forty thousand eons. So we we have to have strong faith and conviction when we and we should have no doubt that we’ve actually been purified.
Not the tendency to doubt. I mean, you recited this Buddha, I think, forty thousand eons of negativity purified. Oh, this maybe not true. It’s sometimes.
It’s just coming easily, don’t sometimes. So we don’t need doubt. This is the mantra’s power. You know? So we don’t, of course, this, you know, they have power.
Oh, So amongst the four powers, this third power is the most important, the power of regret. If we have a strong regret for a negative action, the rest of the powers are complete. So the degree of purification is dependent upon the strength of our regret. If our regret is great, then the purification will be great. If our regret is small, then our purification is small.
Angulimala, he killed nine hundred and ninety-nine people. But due to the power of his tremendously powerful great regret, he was able to purify all the negativity in this life. So the fourth power is the power of determination not to repeat. That is the I’m not I will not do this again. Alright.
So this is the method for purifying negative actions. Method. Right? Mhmm. Okay.
This one. So now