Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. Lama Yeshe addresses the Buddhist understanding of life and death in this 44-minute public talk, opening with a core question: why humans neglect their deepest potential despite having the capacity to achieve liberation. He distinguishes between relative and absolute reality, emphasizing that the mind—not the physical body—is the nucleus of human existence. The talk traces how ego and ignorance distort our perception of pleasure and pain, trapping us in repetitive patterns of suffering. Lama Yeshe then outlines the remedy: developing mindfulness and recognising the false conceptions born of ego, investigating one’s own experience, and cultivating compassion that transcends discrimination. He stresses personal responsibility—that each person holds the answer to their liberation within themselves—and warns against outsourcing spiritual growth to external sources. Pitched at a general audience new to Buddhist perspective.
File metadata (for organising)
File: lama-yeshe-lying-and-dying-sydney-01-sydney-public-talk-lying-and-dying
Teacher: Lama Yeshe
Collection: Lying and Dying (Lama Yeshe — Sydney)
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Words: ~2,535
Tonight, the I suppose the talk subject is on life and death from a Buddhist point of view. Now Buddhist point of view, the human life, concerning human life, can be true reality, relative reality and absolute reality. First of all, that we are human beings. Is very important to know our own relative, the natural character and absolute character. The Buddhism thinks that the human quality is a, you know, profound quality and a worthwhile.
But one has to understand that the human being is not just the bone and the brain or whatever you see, you know, physical world. The nucleus of human being is the continuum of mind. So we are dealing every day our life with the mind. The reason profound, the human being, is because it has quality, the profound quality to discriminate right and wrong concerning reality is the human beauty. And also potential to achieve, you know, highest realization or whatever you call, highest realization or totality or enlightenment or liberation or whatever you call, you know, human beings can achieve.
And also the nucleus of human culture, human culture is the life to life continue, life to life, not just, you know, meaning physical dying as physical dying, not disappear as physical. Now the concerning concerning the reality of human life now. First of all, one have to understand the relative change, you know, transitory, impermanent character in our life by experiencing pleasure and pain and going, coming on. This transitory nature is the condition of our human life. The pain you experience, the pleasure you experience is not permanent existence, but human ego tends to grasp it and to feel, sometimes feel as permanent, you know, existence.
This symptom comes from the ego It is not, you know, the wisdom. It is upon the wrong conception. Well, for example, when we have experienced pleasure, we’re expecting it last sort of forever, which is totally overestimate. It is expecting more than energy, reality. So knowing all the pleasure and the pain, the worldly, our life, is the momentary.
Momentary. It has relatively value, but doesn’t have the permanent, you know, absolute value. So one has to recognize that way, and then we have less room Because the ego is so busy, so busy to grasp on the worldly pleasure, constantly pleasure. There’s no, you know, space and time to see the highest human achievement. That human gain, human being can achieve the eternal peace or eternal, you know, pleasure or enlightenment.
The reason why what I’m saying is the reason why human beings tend to ignore the highest achievement achievement even though we have, you know, the capacity or quality, you know, profoundly is the ego mind, the polluting or interrupting to see such reality. By pursuing such small, you know, unworthy reality. As death was, many times we consider it is a pleasure, but if the cause produce more, you know, cause more suffering and confusion, we know. So you can see, nowadays, and in society, all the relationship, human beings, each other are are changing, changing, the mobility is so great. And you know, this each time changing.
Oh, basically, the grasp of the mind, it would quote, the much suffering, but still you keeping again, again, repeatedly. This repeated, this repeated, all the experiments are still difficult to learn. Even though our own experience. So put much emphasis on the comprehension, you know, of mindfulness, of our own attitude, our own the the ego mind, our own action. In everyday our life.
We do have wrong conception, Such as I mentioned, that holding the conclusion of the pain we holding as pleasure. We do. So so this kind of wrong conceptions, they’re based on the ego, you know, ignorant mind. They repeatedly produce more ignorant, more ignorant, more confusion. So certain point, even if we are sort of sincerity, one way we try to sincerity spiritual, you know, to follow the spiritual path.
But the the result of the repeated ego, you know, the oh, motivation, making it sort of impossible to success or spiritual growth because there’s so many doubtful, you know, reaction. No doubtful. First of all, one has to know the doubtful, the once one grows, it comes from the basic, from ignorance, the ego. One can analyze, you know, all what we call phenomena. One can understand, one can recognize as the, you know, all the sentient beings of the ignorant or ego.
What I’m saying is because your ego is so kind of busy with the worldly pleasure, real thing is you have tremendous doubt about achieving, you know, totality or spiritual growth or liberation or this doubt comes from the ego, not the intelligent wisdom. But with this point of view, that all human beings have the capacity, a potential to eliminate the ego completely by developing mindfulness of the nature or the reality of oneself. So all the experience of desire and all the experience of hatred is basically ego. Karma comes from the ego, which is, you know, ego keeping, you know, such karma from projection. And so the desire is following and helps it to follow.
So by recognizing false conception of the ego and hatred and desire, That way Buddhism understood, you know, can eliminate the confusion and dissatisfaction. And also within the, you know, emphasis on the compassion and the love, without discriminating — all human beings have this reason, you know, is that because the karma, the effect of the karma, the dissatisfaction and confusion which comes from the ego and hatred and desire. For this reason, this reason is, you know, sort of embracing — this reason is embracing, you know, all the living beings who who have ego and ignorant mind. Whether you are white or black or brown or doesn’t matter what what what what the color is. As long the ignorant, the ego mind is existent, the function of dissatisfaction, you know, and the suffering is there.
So for that reason, Buddhism, compassion and the love should be, you know, to to go beyond the discrimination. Because reason is, you know, universal reality. So in this earth now, we we sort of bomb each other, killing each other. These actions are come from, come from no compassion. These acts come from no compassion.
No understanding. Humanity. Human being is recognized as flower, as tool. So, it is very important that a human being to educate the human being has more value than than you know, material. And also recognize that oneself as the conscious character. And the local man wants to know it’s not the bone and the brain, If you recognize that you, you, you, you, you thought that the identification of you is just the physical appearance, then then no understanding, you know, the human human life human life.
One human value, Buddhist point of view, one human value is much more worthwhile than whole world. That is true. I’m not joking. That’s what Buddha is speaking teach me. So, therefore, producing people scared or die, you know?
Or somebody killed, they scared, somebody killing. Also, that nowadays, the western civilization, it is so involved with the physical world, reaction is ignored in reality. I think you’re neglecting. We’re neglecting our obligation. I mean, that is the Buddhist point of view.
We’re neglecting our development. Even though, intellectually, we do know that the physical development alone cannot give satisfaction, We do know, isn’t it? We do know human history, isn’t it? Rich men die with the hungry, isn’t it? We do know or we don’t know.
So now, the satisfaction the certain satisfaction, if you look at satisfaction, you find satisfaction. If you look at certain frequency, you’re always dissatisfied. That’s the way it is. If I show you reality this way, you see this way. If I show you this way, you see this way.
So depending how you how you present reality, sense of world. That’s why we often the example of mind or consciousness is the like a mirror. Mirror takes a reflection of existence, isn’t it? Form and whatever it is, you know? Without discriminating.
It is similar, similar, our our conscious our conscious taking all this, you know, the reflections of the worldly existence. So so the important to develop vast awareness in order to recognize how the garbage, you know, the flood can come into our mind. That certain Buddhism says, let go. Certain things you should take out also, rather than sucking into your consciousness. This is the human being is capable to do this.
It’s not asking Śākyamūni Buddha, which the human being cannot do. human being can do, it is capable to discriminate what is worthwhile, what is not worthwhile. So the knowing, the real reality of mind is the key to liberate oneself from the confusion. And that is the key to, you know, further to liberation or enlightenment. So the way to do it is to investigate into the life, you know, check out and contemplate or meditate whatever method you use.
So Buddhism think the need of the discipline, the mindfulness of the you know, how how the the examine, how the ego is functioning everyday life It’s a very important point. Something we recognize repeatedly, you know, doing, but the result is more dissatisfied. Help is seldom. That’s why Śākyamūni gave the name of the world, the saṃsāra. Samsāra means cycle of existence.
You do it again, again, again. But each time, when you do, you feel I’m doing new one in order to solve your problem. But the matter of fact, you’re doing old things again, again. So the repeated thought pattern, repeated, know, the action, would lead you more dissatisfied. That has to be renounced.
That has to be renounced. Way to renounce is one has to recognize that problem. Renounce its nature. The renounce doesn’t mean you throw. You can wear, you can eat, you can wear your thing can be all the same time renounce.
Now, renounce does not mean you throw your thing in the street. So you can ask yourself, Ask yourself, this caused problems. Why I doing this continuously? You have to ask yourself question. Don’t ask question always outside.
So when you ask within you, answer comes. Is it this is the, you know, sort of the I think, I don’t know, maybe I can say Buddhist experience. I don’t know. Maybe I shouldn’t say. So what is it?
If you if you listening, if you have positive attitude, your own quality, your listening manifests from your own nature, good quality. That’s why good thing. Much emphasis also, the your own good quality, recognizing you have the real value, most precious value you have, you know, then all gold in the world. Who doesn’t teach it that way? Maybe it sounds like egotistical, you people think.
Maybe I don’t know, worst people think. So so maybe you think, you know, well, this month, you know, he’s thinking that his life has more value than whole Australia. Well, what kind of his ego? No, that kind of also we didn’t build up ego. So it’s really important that each of us recognize that if, you know, we we want to stop our problem, we have the answer, and the answer is within us.
That we are putting much emphasis that you are the Buddha. You are the source of Buddha. You are the source of enlightenment. But you have to be, you know, developed. The you are the responsible, your liberation.
You are the responsible, your action of saṃsāra or worldly phenomena. Not responsible — God and the Buddha. So one way, this is very important, you take responsible rather than weak. Many times we are weak because we we we can’t see our, you know, the profound, you know, the quality. I can’t do.
Maybe God do. Maybe Buddha can do for me. Maybe priest can do for me, maybe religion can do for me. I think that also wrong attitude, sort of easy going, you know. Anyway, another sense, weak mind, you know.
That one, Buddha said, you become Buddha. You become Dharma. You become Dharma. You heard something like that? Oh, that’s the that’s the some kind of, you know, taste.
However, if somebody help you anyway, if somebody help you, you speak with somebody help me, please help me. I have this problem. Maybe they’re going to say, oh, blah blah blah, you are wrong. Maybe you buy another new car, you know, telling you to solve the problem, you know. Isn’t it?
Maybe you wash your face with wow. You know, every day. You you understand? Still, you get answer, it’s sort of relative, you know, relative answer. You understand?
You you cannot go you cannot go, you know, through the answer. Just answer, you know, cannot get up to the answer. No way. So that’s why we didn’t if you want, you know, approach, you know, certain certain way, one can go beyond, you know, limitations. Put it on your own experience. Just words cannot go the limitation.
You cannot go beyond the ego. Even I tonight, I repeat, you go beyond the ego. Hundred times maybe I repeat for you. You still, you know even myself is ego, so therefore therefore, you go ego, I’m go ego. Still, you know?
No. So so And also, what is it? Much emphasis to to to develop compassion and love and wisdom. These are not asking not asking, you know, for the human being which the human being cannot do. Buddha recognized that we human being, each of us, we do have them, you know, Matter of fact, some compassion, some love, some wisdom.
Matter of fact, that the ego is the sort of, you know, eliminating. Ego mind is the sort of making limiting, you know, our wisdom and our our love, compassion. So so that that one, ego has not so much, you know, good reputation in Buddhism. That’s important to know. To know important.
Even we are playing even we play or we we are into some kind of religions or philosophy or Buddhism or whatever, we enter. But, I mean, could be good, isn’t it? I mean, religion or Buddhism or philosophy could be good, you know, leave human beings, you know, better human beings, you know, more compassionate, more love. But because the individual ego is coming together, you know, you’re coming with ego. So so the ego interpreted that my things are better than yours.
You know? So so again, you’re learning related things. You meet well, you know. You won’t stop the problem, but things becomes again, you know, the equipment to increase more miserable, more complex. Isn’t it?