Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 45-minute teaching at Buddha House’s tenth-anniversary celebration in Australia, Lama Zopa Rinpoche establishes that happiness and suffering arise from one’s own mind through karmic imprints left by past actions. To illustrate, he shares striking newspaper stories—a baby born with a wooden leg, a man killed when a snake’s tail triggers his gun, a truck driver whose children are born with snake-like skin—showing how present circumstances reflect one’s karma. The teaching then pivots to its core practical message: transforming everyday life into dharma practice. He guides how to infuse each daily action—washing, dressing, eating, sleeping, working—with the understanding that we are responsible for all beings’ happiness and freedom from suffering. By remembering this during ordinary moments, all activities become service to others.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 01 1981 08 12 DEL.mp3
UUID: b82255a6-b773-45a6-a22c-58413bd6890d
Teacher: Lama Zopa Rinpoche 1
Collection: y Dharma in Everyday Life (Lama Zopa Rinpoche 1)
Date: 1981-08-12
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 45.3 minutes
Words: ~4,798
So first, I’m very happy to to be able to participate in the tenth birthday of the of the Buddha House in Australia. And I would like to say thank you very much thank you very much for everybody coming to participate. And the directors and all the members, everybody who did much, you know, dedication, service to exist the the meditation meditation center, Buddha House, and to continue to develop. So so I would like to say thank you very much from my heart.
First of all, western teacher, Mackenzie-Rinpoche, and then the translator, and the interpreter, and then all the rest. So so the next, just to mention some words. So as I often say that the happiness comes from one’s own mind as well as the problem life problems, sufferings comes from one’s own mind. So before coming to the point, you see, the the topic what was asked to speak was how to practice Dharma in our everyday life. But before coming to that point, just a few words, a few introductions.
So since happiness and the sufferings come you see, comes from the mind. One’s one’s own mind, you see, it doesn’t come from outside. The main cause of happiness and suffering, it’s outside. It is within one’s mind. So one day from morning into night, whatever you see, in that day, whatever life experience we experience, you see ups and downs.
Whatever happens, Including the senses, including the aggregates, the association of the body and mind and the appearances you know, that we see desirable, undesirable object, indifferent object. And depending on that feeling is what we get, pleasant, unpleasant, indifferent. The whole thing comes from one’s own mind. Whole thing comes from one’s own mind. The imprint, how it came from one’s own consciousness, one’s own mind, is that imprint left on the mind by past actions.
So the, you know, positive action, negative action, this, you know, skillful action, unskillful action. So so these actions left imprint energy or imprint on the mind. So these imprints which are left on the mental continuum, it so today, from this morning into tonight, that imprint that that imprint is manifested. That imprint is a you see? Yeah.
Manifested. So all these the the the whole thing the whole thing came out of the imprint that was left in the mind. So whole thing came from the mind. Like the film, like the movie movie feeling that has got, you know, many pictures that are fighting in, you know, people fighting, people enjoying, you see, so many things it has recorded, you see. And then by putting in the by putting in the machine, you see, and with the electricity together, so it then it projects what is on the film.
Then it it is able to project on the screen. So that thing that we see there, it comes from the, you know, what is recorded in the feeling. So like that. Example like that, the TV, you know, what we see in the TV came from that, you see, from the station that from the film. And the same thing in the movie.
So like that exactly like that exactly all the appearances that we have in our everyday life from morning until night, day and night, you see, from birth until the day, the whole thing including the, you see, body mind, everything came from the imprint that was left, you see, on the mental continuum, you see, by the past action. So anything that is unpleasant, anything that is undesirable object, you know, and unpleasant feelings rises by you see, by depending on that any beautiful object, desirable object, and by depending on that then pleasant feeling rises. Everything came from everything as it came from the, you know, the negative imprint and positive imprint. Negative imprint left by the unwholesome action and positive imprint left by the skillful action or virtuous action of one’s own. I see the past action.
So so like this. So example example, when we look at one person, one hundred one hundred people look at one person you see, everyone cannot everyone doesn’t see that one person in the same way in the same way, cannot see in the same way. Everyone cannot see that a person is ugly. There are some people that sees that person ugly, some people see beautiful. Some people see indifferent.
So you see one object but the one hundred people you see when hundreds of people there’s many people, when they look at that one object, they see different way. They see different way. So that that all those different appearances all those different appearances So appearances without the mind there’s no appearance. So appearance has to come from the mind first of all, generally speaking. So however, that one person that one object appeared different to different people.
So that is the explanation that is, you see, that appearance is a is connected with the different level different level of mind or different imprint that is left on the continuum. So you see, according to their actions, according to their past action, you see, with the left imprint. So how you are you do, you know, the skillful, unskillful, unwholesome or wholesome action. So depending on that, you see. So then the object once one see the object pleasant, you see, beautiful, one see object ugly.
So like that, you see, it came from it came from one’s own action. So like this, everything came from, you see, all these appearances, everything came from one’s own mind. Came from karma. So one way of explaining karma. One way of explaining karma.
So there are two. The action, the principal conscious action of the principal causes. And then the intended action. Intended action. Action of the principal causes.
So the the intention that which gives impetus to the principal causes is the intention which makes principal causes is to to focus, to work on the object. You see? And then there’s intended action. There’s intended action that which happens during the act of the body and speech. So there’s motivation of the mind, you know, and then you see, during the act of body and speech, there’s a thought which rises together, you see, which follows with that.
Such such is the the the motivation of the, of time. There is a motivational cause and a motivational time. So while one is acting with the action, body, and speech, there’s a motivational time that goes with that. So those are the, you see, the action. karma.
So you see one way of explaining. karma is one’s own thought. So I would like to give this is just a few examples. So that so you see that ourself within our life is in this life. We experience many good things.
We experience many, you see, unsettled things which one did not expect. And also, we hear, we see see other beings experiencing, you know, good things, but also many undesirable things. So I thought to read some some stories from newspaper. To get so see other other people’s experiences than which which we can use an example for our own life. A scientist in Norway announced the March second birth of a baby.
Second birth of baby, second birth of a baby with one normal leg and one fashioned from a piece of two hundred fifty years old weathered oak. Two two hundred and fifty years old weathered oak in a distinctive pirate’s plaque motif. So one leg, normal leg. One leg fashioned from a piece of two hundred fifty years old weathered oak in a distinctive I brought the infant into the world with my own hands, and I still have a hard time I still have a hard time believing what I saw.
Said said doctor Carl Magnusson who attributed the bizarre birthmark to the apparent influence of reincarnation. So this So again, for this For example, this story that So this experience that actually happened. So this you see, born like this born like this from the womb. So you see, usually it is something that we can it’s something that beyond beyond our as our imaginational concept cannot believe. You see, it if it you see, before it happened, if you talk, you see, it’s hard to believe.
It’s hard to believe before it happened before it happened, the story. See? So however, so many many of like this, you see unimaginable things happening in the world. So this came from the one’s own mind. That child’s own mind.
It’s the imprint that’s left unconscious from past karma, from past actions, you see. A housewife and mother of two children in Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires. Buenos Aires died when her beauty salon hair dryer overheated. Police said the the hair dryer had reached a temperature of more than two hundred fifty degrees before before before salon workers discovered the problems. Then the one that blocked blockages.
I don’t know what he’s saying. The latest the latest edition of US magazine Spy contains an item gleaned by the magazine from the page of the American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Psychopathology. It was a report from the coroner of Stark County, Ohio. On a case Ohio. Others like to pray.
They like the top prayer, know. Anyway, it’s American City. On a case of on a case of sudden death by fish, a forty years old man in good health went went fishing on a local lake and caught a ten centimeter bluegill, b l u e g I l g I l l. Bluegill. Bluegill.
I don’t know what it means. Name of the fish. What was apparently as in what was apparently a premature celebration in what was apparently as premature celebration says spy.
He held a fish aloft and perhaps let out a shout of triumph. At that moment, the fish wriggled the fish wriggled off the hook and fell fell head they fell head first into the man’s mouth.
Unable to unable to remove the slippery slippery? Slippery. Slippery. Unable to remove the slippery fish. The man in a scene straight out of America’s most tragic home videos, struggled home.
His family called for paramedics, but they found that the scales and the gills of the fish had lodged in the men’s wind windpipe windpipe. The man the man asphyxiated. Asphyxiated. Asphyxiated. Asphyxiated.
And and although the coroner doesn’t mention it, our guess is that the fish did too. Then another story happened that that I don’t know where. I don’t know where. There was one person. Hundred.
I think the man used to be hundred. So he saw a snake in the forest. He saw a snake in the road. Don’t know. Anyway, he saw a snake, snake, snake, and he stepped over.
Excuse me. He so he stepped over the snake and he stepped over the head the head he stepped over, you see, the head of the snake. But what happened is the rest of the snake’s tail, you see, curled up and he had he was carrying the gun. So then what happened to the tail, you see Tipped up on the head of the gun. Yeah.
That’s right. He was standing over the head of the snake. On the head. On the head. On the head.
And the tail the tail, you see, left out. So the tail curled up. He was carrying a gun. So the tail tail went up and it touched to the handle of the gun. Trigger.
Trigger. Trigger. So the tail went up and it touched what’s called the trigger. Trigger.
And then, you see, it it moved the trigger. So the gun was the person was carrying the gun like this. You know, so the the bullet went in his head. And so he died there. So so so actually he was actually he was trying to, you know, trying to stop the snake.
Trying to stop the snake, you see. He’s giving harm to him or whatever. You know, trying to, you know, destroy the snake. However but however, you see, what happened is that because this person has a karma, however this person has a karma to die at that time and you see with connection with his neck. So you see with this condition, so what happened is the imprint that was such a condition of death, you know, the imprint which was there, left by past action, you see, that is manifested or experienced out, you see.
So then this appearance happened, you see. This appearance happened, so this, you see. So he dies like this. So the evolution why this happened, you see, even normally that is quite, you know, again such a story is something you can’t imagine. Snake killing you with gun.
If you tell snake if you tell somebody, snake will kill you. If this person was told much earlier, if a snake will kill you with gun, person wouldn’t believe. So like that. Then another person in India in India there was in India, I think maybe Bihar somewhere. In Bihar somewhere.
In the road, you see, there’s a huge snake huge snake laying down on the road. So so the many trucks, you see, they were coming. And the other truck the trucks all stopped. There was a huge snake. So this one driver one driver, he drove let me see now.
I think I’m forgetting the story. He purposely drove over the snake. Yeah. He purposely drove over the snake or he chopped. I don’t remember.
Maybe next time when I remember, I’ll tell you. I’m joking. That so he went over. Then what happened? Then what happened is that you see, he he after that he after that, he married.
After that, he married, and he got three children. So all his children all his children were born with this snake’s snake, you know, like how exactly the snake looks. You see, all the children’s skin’s like snake. You see this what’s called? This scale.
You know? This yeah. Very hard. Very hard skin, you see. All the children were born like that, born with that body.
And so what the problem that he was having is he tried to send to school he tried to send to school and nobody accepts the children because it’s very terrifying. Nobody accepts. So it had difficulties to put in the school. So so those, you see, so those things also so he sees it that he’s seeing the children in that form. You see, that is that is also appearance of his own mind and all that difficulties, you see.
So the imprint is left by the past action. So this manifests out the harm that was done towards others. So like that. Like this like this unimaginable. So you see he was looking very hard in India trying to cure.
He went to many hospitals to check whether this can be cured but nobody could do anything. So however, So there are many things happening like this, you see, every say all over the world, all the time. And you see, unconceivable things. So all these are what all these are karma. All these are is a result of action.
All the good things are a result of good action. All these are undesirable things as result of negative action. But then then also in you see in India, there happened One fully ordained nun. So she she had she was married. Before she was ordained, was married.
She got two children. So one child was carried by taken by a river. One child was eaten by wolf. The husband Other husband, see, died by fire, I think. And so whole house, you know, burned by fire.
So the whole rest the family died like this. So after that after that she married she married another man, another man, and this man become drunk, become drunk, and they came back to the home, came back to home. Then it’s got this with this man got one child, and this man become drunk, came back to home one night, and chop the chop the child. Chopped the child in pieces. And gave see, gave her the meat, gave her the flesh to eat.
Then she left the husband. So the the husband that’s right. The husband the husband died. The husband died and the husband died and so there’s a custom there’s a custom in that country. When the husband dies, then the wife is also buried together.
So if wife dies, husband buried, even his alive buried together into the ground. So some countries they have this custom in ancient times. Maybe some other primitive places maybe still have. So so she was buried with her husband you see, in the ground. Then nighttime came.
Nighttime tea came. Tube threw the took the dust off. And then the the so she was freed by the thieves. Again, she married with the king, the with the leader with the leader of the thief. With the leader of the with the head of the thief, see.
The head man of the thieves. She married with him, lived together. Then again he died. He died. I think he was killed by the king of the the country or something.
Then again she was buried with him, with the with the, you know, leader of the thieves’ body. She was buried. Then after that so after so after after all after all that, you see, going through many going through many difficulties, then after after experiencing all these things, then she to then she to ordination, and then then she become, you know, then she become. Then So in the during the past Buddhist time during the past Buddhist time, there happened a Brahman person called So this from the child time is this child is from birth, from the hand, there were unceasing gold coins coming out, You see? From his hand, from the child time.
Why? Why the child has gold coins coming unceasingly? From birth time, why? That is because in his past lives he was, you see, he was doing business in selling wood. So then the golden coin that he got by selling wood, you see, he put in the container.
He put in a vase, it’s a clear vase, you know, the golden coin that he received by selling wood. And then he filled the vase with water. Then he offered to the Buddha, the past Buddha called So so this the reason why he this from child time, this time says, unceasing white and golden coins coming from the hand is because they, in the past life, you know, offered one one golden coin to the Buddha by putting in the container. So the the action the action is one time offering, offering one gold coin, but the result is that because karma is expandable. So you see, during that life, the next life, you see born as human being and you see, he is he has unceasing receiving unceasing gold coins.
Then there happened. One very poor person one very poor person, you see, made offering to four four sanghas. Four months, you know, made offering. You see, some medicinal drink. He met this person made offering.
I don’t remember the name of the person. So it’s a very simple offering, you know, just a medicinal drink to the four monks. Then due to that karma, because karma is expandable, even the action is so small, the result is always to be experienced many life times. See, the result is always great. So therefore, next life, because of that karma, next life he was born as king.
King Kāśyapa. He became king and he had all the wealth. You see? And he was able to help, you see, for many other people.
So that is These kind of stories are giving an idea. Small action. But small good small good action but the result, the happiness, how great you see one experiences. And then so there are many. However, the there happened king king called the Nalenu.
Will turn king Nalenu. The reason why he has has got control, he become king of the whole the whole continent. Eastern, western, south, The the whole continent. So this is this world is south. This world is the the southern continent.
Even the even the god realms, the deva realms, those desire realms, is able to have control. The reason that is because the reason why he become king of all this so powerful all this is because in the past life in the past life, you see, he met he he offered grains to Buddha. So some grains dropped in the begging bowl, Buddha’s begging bowl, and some dropped on the crown. You see, when you offer when you sprinkle the grain, you see, like this to Buddha, Śākyamūni Buddha, when Śākyamūni Buddha was in India.
So some dropped in the begging bowl, some dropped on the crown. So because one grain dropped in the crown, so that’s why not only that he will become king of the four all the four corners, but also even the deva realm, the Indra realm. So anyway, they are, you know, full of how’s it? Full of stories like this.
You see that within within our life, there are many good there are many examples of good karma. Many examples that we experience of good karma. And there are many examples we ourselves experience the you see, the negative karma. So however, it is mentioned that you know, by by doing small negative karma, you see, by doing small negative karma, that example, you know, by coming each drop. Even the drop is very small, but but but by coming dropping one time, two times, three times, even the big pot can be filled up.
Mhmm. Mhmm. Then you see, like this, then child like this, the child one child one, you see. Then mind get filled up by even if negative karma is small, but but but many times it can be the mental can be filled up karma. Then also, even the merit, good karma is very small.
You see, same thing like the drop coming by one by one, it can fill the whole pot like that, you see? You see? Same thing can happen. So therefore, even the good karma is very small, we should not should not think, oh, this is such a very small good karma. You know?
There’s no word. You shouldn’t think like this. But even a small good karma, we should do it as much as possible because you see karma is expandable. Result you can experience many thousands of lifetimes. Their happiness.
So like that. However, so anyway, all the negative karmas that which we have accumulated, they can they can be purified by you see, with the remedy of four powers, can purify, we can make it impossible to experience, and all by experiencing some disaster in this life, some disease or cancer or AIDS or some small problems by experiencing this life. And all the heavy problems we experience in this life and future lives, many lifetimes can be finished by experiencing some problems in this life. So that’s according to how much one according to the how skillful how powerful one purifies, you see, it depends on that. So one one can stop, you see, experience the result.
So now so like this. So now if if we have now if we have compassion, you see, then we don’t give harm to all sentient beings starting from the family. And if we don’t, then there’s danger to harm to all sentient beings starting from the family. So therefore, we are completely responsible. You see, all sentient beings happiness starting from the family, starting from the one person who was, you know, with whom live together.
You see? So like this and even death. Like this, we are responsible all sentient beings’ happiness. And second, and even even day to day life, you see, even day to day life, you see, your our own happiness depends on the other depends on kind depends on kindness or other cherishing. other cherishing kindness dependent on us.
What I’m saying? One’s own happiness dependent on other sentient beings’ kindness. And other sentient beings’ happiness dependent on us. So even everyday life, you see, you see, depending depending how we think of the how we depending what kind of attitude, you know, whether we have compassion or towards surrounding people and animals, so forth. So they so you see, depending on that, then they have happiness or depending, you see, the attitude, negative attitude, the selfish attitude, then the others, they don’t get happiness, they don’t get peace, they receive harm.
So even everyday life, they’re surrounding people, animals, their happiness depend on depending on us. So it’s also by the second reason. So we are responsible. Everyone’s every every sentient beings happiness to freedom from all the suffering to obtain happiness. So therefore so therefore and this is the this is the meaning of life.
To pacify all sentient beings suffering to obtain happiness for all sentient beings. So therefore, we should get up when we get up in the morning. When we get up in the morning, so we should remember the meaning of the life. To pacify all sentient beings suffering, to obtain happiness for all sentient beings. Mhmm.
So we should remember when we wash. We when we wash, we should remember the meaning of the life. And then for that reason, need long life and healthy, therefore, I’m washing in order to serve other sentient beings. And also when we dress up, also that time, we should remember meaning of the life, you know. And then in order to have a healthy body, see, healthy mind has to to have long life and therefore I’m dressing.
So I’m dressing for the in order to benefit of all sentient beings. So when we eat when we eat, you see, when we eat and drink, that time also remember meaning of our life. You see, to pacify all sentient beings suffering, to obtain happiness for all sentient beings, the response responsibility of our what what actually how we are how oneself is responsible, all sentient beings’ happiness is. So remember that. And then for to do that, you need long life and healthy, so therefore eating food.
They were drinking. Then same thing when you go to sleep, also use the sleeping as a medicine. Rather rather as rather, you see, how’s it? To obtain comfort for oneself, which becomes non virtuous because it’s done out of self-cherishing thought. Sleeping, the action of sleeping.
So also when you go to bed, you should remember that I’m responsible for all sentient beings’ happiness. See? Bringing happiness to liberate them from all the sufferings. Then for that reason, need long life and healthy. So therefore, I’m going to use the sleep as a medicine.
You see? However, with this attitude with this attitude, then everything what we do, you know, everything what we do, you see, becomes service for all sentient beings. So even by working, when you go to office, also, we remember the meaning of our human life. That we are that one is responsible also in terms of happiness, you know, to obtain. So with this attitude, one go to work.
With this attitude, one go to work. Especially remember people who employed, you know, their kindness. So if they don’t employ you, you wouldn’t have all this enjoyment to survive, then you can’t develop your mind. Then there’s no opportunity to meditate, you know, to develop the mind to practice Dharma. So all this come from kindness.
Other sentient beings is are the people who are, you see, those who gave the job, who employed you. So remember particularly their kindness. So then so from the work, the work that one does in the office, you see whatever, the work which one does, definitely it gives some it gives a help for the other people who employed, you see, the owner of the company or factory or whatever. And other people do get benefit because they need other people to help them