Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 30-minute teaching, Lama Zopa Rinpoche addresses working with despair in the face of heavy karma or difficult circumstances. He establishes that mental afflictions—anger, desire, delusion, self-cherishing thought—are temporary, dependent on causes and conditions, like passing clouds. All beings possess Buddha nature: the pure essence of mind untainted by obscuration, preventing collapse into hopelessness. Rinpoche outlines the practical path: develop genuine regret (which purifies), remember that Buddha nature remains full of potential, and avoid repetition in daily life. He uses disease recognition as an analogy: acknowledging mental afflictions is unpleasant but necessary for transformation. For practitioners working with heavy karma and despair.
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File: 04 1991 08 06 K.mp3
UUID: fad0561f-9ebe-4413-b9da-2c83317acb95
Teacher: Lama Zopa Rinpoche 1
Collection: y Karma (Lama Zopa Rinpoche 1)
Date: 1991-08-06
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 30.0 minutes
Words: ~3,149
The next day or at the same day or next day, sometimes, you see, that person that is the person that was based on anger if you want to harm or kill. But, you see, then due to then, you see, because those reasons, those conditions, you see, what makes to rise anger. You see, you don’t think. You stop those reasons. You see?
You don’t think, so the anger stopped. So anger, you see, anger doesn’t rise anymore, you see, on that object. So even without a minute even without meditating even without a meditation, that object on which we get some desire or anger, you see, on that object, you see, always doesn’t last attachment, always doesn’t last anger. It doesn’t become object of anger forever, and that doesn’t become object of desire forever. So you see, temporary.
It’s temporary because of the dependent cause of conditions. So changing the cause of conditions. So like that. So therefore, the obscurations, you see, therefore, you see, what we say, that our minds obscured. That is having, as I say, having so much delusion or having so much anger or having so much self-cherishing thought.
Or you see, very, you see, very difficult to generate very difficult to have concern of others or you see, difficulty of concern of others, you know, to generate difficult to generate feel love and compassion. So so strong, you see, selfish minded or so strong anger or so impatient. You see? However, having having very thick obscuration, difficult to understand or difficult to you see, difficult to I say, difficult to feel the meaning of teachings, difficult to concentrate, or the visualization doesn’t come doesn’t happen or doesn’t happen clear. However, that is it.
That one is unable to have a, you see, success. You see, in achieving realizations, in general success. However, all these things, however, all these, you see, the obscurations, the obstacles, you see, that we have in the mind. All these are temporary. Like those other examples, like the clouds, like the clouds in the sky.
So temporary. So this thing happened due to another cause conditions, and due to another cause conditions, they go away. So because the Buddha nature, the essence of Buddha, the ultimate nature of the mind, the clear light. There is the nature of the mind that was, you know, empty. There is the not existing from the side.
So because of this because of this, you see, everyone everyone even besides us besides us human beings, even the mosquitoes or even the even those animals living, see, under the ocean, even those those tiniest even those tiniest insects those tiniest insects, see, in the water, on the ground, even the tiniest insects, so tiny the insects on the wood, you see, on the damp wood, you see. So you see, those tiniest in those tiniest, you know, the so tiny, the ants, extremely tiny. However, everyone everyone has this Buddha nature. As it is so you see, as in the Buddha, so, you see, everyone everyone Because this everyone, you see, Is everyone going to become enlightened? You see?
You see? See? Yeah. Everyone going to become enlightened because of this. So to think this is the first thing.
To think this, you see, the nature of the mind which the in essence of Buddha, Buddha nature, which is pure. This is this is pure. You see? You see? This nature is pure.
It’s not oneness with mistakes. There’s not oneness with it. There’s not oneness with the selfish mind. There’s not oneness with anger. All these things obscurations, you know, ignorance.
So this of this, you know, these wrong conceptions and these obscurations are temporary. So even one even for similar, how much problem one has? Even one has incredible huge family problems, you know, huge huge family, you know, even one has an incredible disaster or, you know, family problems or whatever problem that one has all the same to to recognize to recognize this is temporary. You know? Yeah.
Yeah. It happens. It goes. So this can help This can help to how’s it? This can help, you see?
This can help to not feel depression. No matter how much one has failed. You see. So to not feel that to not feel that you are completely hopeless, that one is not completely hopeless. You see?
You see, by thinking this then, by thinking this, it gives by thinking this, you see, it reminds you. By thinking this, it gives you all the hopes. You see, that that one can there’s always opportunity to be better. So like that. By having there’s big differences in by having that dharma.
By having that dharma not having dharma. There’s big differences. By having dharma, there’s a full of inspiration. You see? But if one if one by having Dharma, then you see question of thinking, question of inspiration, question of thinking.
Is life full of hope, life full of you see? You one think, you see, I don’t know, is it rather, you see, you see, feeling very down, you know, feeling very down, hopeless. You see, if one think, you see, I don’t know, see, something that, like, you know, that you can so you can have the life full of inspiration. You see? So you see that some one one has a very heavy karma or, you see, even missing even missing limbs or something.
You see? Even situation like that even situation like that, you know, even missing limbs or even something happen like this. That, you see, even you see, mind mind mind want to be so much mind want to be something else. But you see, due to karma, one doesn’t have freedom now. You see, mind want to do something else.
And then, you see, due to karma, that one doesn’t have freedom. And after that, you see? So so where the life is in where the life is involved. You see? Or is it even that even that is not even that is not what what one want.
Even there’s a problem like this even there’s a big problem like this in the mind. However, to think, you see, to think this is temporal this is temporary. You know? What’s happening to me is that this is not forever. You see?
This is not forever. You see? So this is temporary. Mhmm. As prerequisite, because this is causative phenomenon, it’s been cause conditions.
So it happened because cause conditions, this problem happened. The difficulty in the life has happened due to cause conditions, then there’s another cause condition, it goes away. So, however, this is no matter how heavy karma in the life is no matter how much heavy karma the one has created, you see, even destined to be I don’t think even destined, you see, has to be born to be born in hells, you know, for, you see, even many many billions billions of hells. However, that many billions of, you see, say, years, nothing, there’s say, many billions of eons eons, you see, daytime. You know?
Daytime, not human beings time, which is incredible amount of time. So, however, even even something like that happened, even something like that, you know, such a huge karma negative action created. So once you see, Rather being you see, rather being just so just being sad, any any problem any problem happens in your life, any mistake happens or problem happens. Just as just being sad, just only being sad. Just just living the life, you see.
Just just living the life, sad. That is just there’s no use. Just living life like that. Remember Buddha nature and that which is pure, you see, which is pure, which you see, which has no mistake, which is which is not oneness with mistake. You see?
I remember that. And then, you see, you see, I remember this. And then that by knowing that all the potentials, all the hopes that one can try, that one can develop the mind. However, one that one can be better. So then to attend method to be better.
Even even even so even as karma. Even as karma. So, of course, feeling regret feeling regret. Feeling is it feeling feeling so much regret? How much one feel regret?
You see? How much one feel regret? Of course, purifies. Having the negative karma, having the negative action, how much one feel regret, that is the you see, that has the main That much as that much one regret, it purifies it purifies so much the negative karma. Here here in this case, it’s different.
For negative karma, this is how much one regret. Then it purifies the negative karma. Stronger one regret. And then then besides then besides the feeling of regret, then one try to, you see, by thinking about the nature that is pure, you see, not, you know, not mixed not mixed with with obscuration with mistakes. But remembering that, and then generate inspiration to, you see, to, I say, to attempt to not commit again.
However, if even one cannot even one cannot stop completely, say, cannot commit again forever. But you see, however, less, however, less as, say, as less as possible. So like that, You know? There’s some there but in some cases, in some cases, it’s what also there’s worse to feel. I I would think even stress is useful.
In my point of view, stress is not not always negative. Not always negative. There’s negative stress, there’s positive stress. Sudden I say, that for ordinary person, you see, if there’s if there’s this concern, if there’s you see, If there’s concern, you see, concern worry, then that makes that helps to not get late. That helps to not to get things in time, to develop better, to make things better.
You see, Dharma practice, whatever it is. So there there’s benefits of that. There’s benefit. There’s benefit. So you see, so person who is the person who is very lazy, who does who doesn’t do anything, there’s no stress.
After that person, who’s very is very is very lazy. You see, like me. But but I’m I’m not saying I don’t know stress. I’m not saying that. But laziness.
Anyway, so I know what I’m talking. So I think like this. So it’s all not not necessarily negative. There’s I think I think a lot depends depends on depends I think it depends on purpose of life, whether negative stress or positive stress for us ordinary person. It depends on the purpose of your work.
Well, if if the if the action is virtuous action if the action is virtuous action, then is you running for is keeping busy for that. You see? That’s worthwhile. But if action is non-virtue. If action is virtue.
You see? See, the the person’s mind and inner enrichment. You see? And then, keeping busy working for that, working for this mind, you know, then keeping busy, which means keeping busy, you see, non-virtuous action. Then, you see, then that’s, you see, stress becomes the negative negative stress.
So similar so I listen. You see this is my view. Like this. So it is for example for example, in order to be healthy in order to be healthy in order to be healthy, you should you should recognize that in order to be healthy, we go to we go to hospital or we go to hospital again and again to check every year. Many times, go to hospital to check.
Why? Why we go to check? Why we go to check? Why we bother to go check? Because we want to know whether there’s any disease, whether there’s any whether there’s AIDS or whether there’s any cancer or any disease.
So we go go to hospital to check. So so if you think so you see, if you reject if you reject to find out if you reject to find out disease, if you reject idea if you reject the idea, if you reject the you see, that one you see, that you that one doesn’t want to that you don’t want to know that we we don’t want to know that we are patients, that we have disease. If you reject this, if you reject the knowledge, the knowledge, you see, the recognition knowledge that we have the disease, then then if you reject this, what happens is that if you reject this, and then, you see, it it stops the opportunity for you to be healthy. You see, to have long life and healthy. So, you see, to reject the knowledge to find out what the disease is what disease one has.
So by by rejecting that knowledge, you see, you see, and doesn’t want to know that I’m a sick person. Then you see then you see, that means it it stops it stops oneself to take to to to to, you see, also to follow the method, also to follow the method, the treatment, then to take the medicine. It also stops. So in other words so that in other words, that that idea that you don’t don’t you don’t have known as if you have disease, but you don’t want to know that one’s a patient or one’s of disease. So then that is the because because that makes me upset.
The reason is because it makes me upset. Then in that and then then, you see, because that one doesn’t go to hospital, one doesn’t check, and then doesn’t take medicine, so one doesn’t if then, one one cannot achieve the benefit having long life and healthy. So that is only making to that is only failure. That is only causing failure to oneself. Rejecting this, the knowledge.
You see? So like this, by knowing by going to hospital, by checking, by knowing what by knowing what disease one has, then this way, then one can get the right treatment, one can look for right treatment, one can heal. So so this is the quality. This is you see, this is so this is regard to quality. Is it good thing to do?
So therefore, it will it will be choice. It will go to hospital to check. Now same same now same, exactly same like this. Exactly same like this. So more that more so by depending on the teaching, by depending on the virtuous friend or the teaching, then the more we know our mind, how much delusion one has, these different thoughts.
How is it how this how much negative karma one? How much negative karma? You see that? How the the mind is making the actions non-virtuous? Caused by self-cherishing.
And and then, you see, how the self-cherishing thought, how strong self-cherishing thought there is and how incredible harmful it is. How incredible harmful it is. So by knowing this, it is not pleasant thing to hear. It is not blissful thing to hear. But but like disease.
But if you recognize disease, then you can make better health. Similar, it is not pleasant to hear, but but because but by recognizing these things, you see, that there’s any benefit in the self-cherishing, harm to oneself and others. Then, you see, so you see, but staying but but staying with the upsetness, but but staying but but living the life by knowing this and living the life with being sad, there’s no just that, there’s no use. You see? So what what should be done?
Just knowing this, recognize this, and being sad, you see, that you see, that alone, there’s no use. But with this, you see, by by finding out how strong mind one has and how it’s harmful, you see, you know, achieving the life and so forth, then you see one then you see one should determination. One should attempt for method to, you see, to sever the root of self-cherishing, sever this root of self-cherishing, then one should attempt to, you see, to not follow or, you see, to avoid as much possible in the, you see, in the in the in the life, not only during meditation session, but, you see, in everyday life as much possible to avoid. So this so this way, it become so by realizing all these mental diseases, obscurations, all these things, it will come. So it become useful.
Then one, you see, pure how do one purify? It makes to purify by knowing. It makes to purify. It makes to practice. So it leads to enlightenment.
So you see. So like this. So when so when we hear these subjects, there is karma, self-cherishing thought. You see? So it looks like putting down one.
It looks like putting putting down one’s self. You see? That you see? That telling that you are bad. You are bad.
You are bad. And this and this and that. You have done this and that. But, like, as I mentioned examples, the sick the sick person. So like that, you see.
Just just knowing that just knowing this and being sad, there’s no use. You see, what should be done is is by, you see, by, you see, by encouraging or inspiring, you see, by thinking the pure Buddha nature, which has all the potentials, then how you are to attend, you see, the practice to practice to overcome the self-cherishing thought. You see, to to purify negative karma and to not to not create again, one should attempt. Yeah. Yeah.
Then this way this way, you know, the, you see, happiness and success comes. So I hope there’s some I hope there’s some useful answer to that question.