Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 9-minute teaching from 1991, Lama Zopa Rinpoche builds a powerful argument for why even a single sentient being is infinitely more precious than all the world’s wealth. He illustrates through the story of Asaṇga, who eventually saw Maitreya Buddha after years of effort, how complete self-sacrifice for one being purifies vast obscurations and develops the mind immeasurably. Self-cherishing, Rinpoche explains, blocks all realizations; cherishing sentient beings instead opens the path to bodhicitta. He walks through understanding karma and different types of suffering so that genuine compassion extends to all beings—friends, enemies, and strangers alike. Dharma practice rooted in this recognition becomes the sole protection at the time of death. For serious practitioners cultivating bodhicitta.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 05 1991 08 07 LC.mp3
UUID: 67895f13-1fbc-4c75-be3a-085a015e3289
Teacher: Lama Zopa Rinpoche 1
Collection: y Love and Compassion (Lama Zopa Rinpoche 1)
Date: 1991-08-07
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 9.6 minutes
Words: ~975
Which was which which which appeared dark as it which appeared dark, you know, which he saw a dark before. You see that because by sacrificing completely for that one being for that one being, by complete sacrificing oneself for that one being, then you see so much obscuration is purified. And before seeing dog, Asaṇga saw Maitreya Buddha, but now Buddha, no longer dog. So so like this, there are many there are many stories that by sacrificing the life for one, even for one sentient being even for one sentient being, that how it how it it incredibly develops the mind, you see, and the accumulated merit, you see,, unbelievable unbelievable purification. So so therefore so therefore, even once therefore, even one sentient even as one sentient being, it is even it’s one sentient being, it is so precious.
Even it’s one sentient being, you see, cherishing cherishing oneself cherishing oneself, you see, no enlightenment. There’s no enlightenment, no way to with that. That only becomes obstacle to achieve, you see, to achieve bodhicitta, and you see, all the path and Mahāyāna path, the realizations, and and the enlightenment only be an obstacle. So but but if but if but if you cherish this one sentient being there’s enlightenment, it gives enlightenment, Whole path and enlightenment, purifies all those veils. So therefore, even with one sentient being who is called I is to be renounced.
And even that one sentient being is always object to be cherished. Even that one sentient being, you see, even that even that one sentient being is always object to be cherished. So that even that one sentient is unbelievable, precious, so precious, so precious, much more precious than whole sky filled with diamonds, dollars. This much more precious than whole earth, this much the size of jewels. So that much wealth is that much wealth is nothing.
That much wealth that much wealth is nothing. Without depending on kindness this one sentience being, one has all those wealth, that alone cannot make you to stop, cannot help you to stop rebirth in the lower realms. That alone cannot make you to receive their human body in the next life. That alone cannot make you actually receive liberation. That alone cannot make you to receive, you see, enlightenment, you know, without depending on the kindness, without depending on this the without depending on kindness with this one sentient being, you know, you see, even one has that much.
But but even one doesn’t have any of those wealth, even one doesn’t have even one doesn’t have one’s one slightest jewel. But if but if one doesn’t have slightest jewel, but by depending on this one sentient being, if you see, one can avoid rebirth in the lower realms, one can receive a precious human body. By depending on this kindness of this one sentient being, one is receive, you see, liberation from saṃsāra, one receives full enlightenment. So therefore, this one sentient being is much more precious than so much precious, you see, unbelievable precious. So all this wealth or this much sky filled with the jewels is nothing.
It’s going be lost according to comparing the value of this person, this one thing can be, how kind and how precious it is for oneself. So therefore, the conclusion to be cherished is every sentient being is object to be cherished. Every like that, how how precious it is how precious it is one sentient being. One centering being so like this, every sentient being so precious like this. So therefore so therefore, what’s called enemy friend and so on.
However, everyone is so precious, kind unbelievable kindness, so precious that everyone is object to be cherished forever. So with this bodhicitta, then one is able to have all the realizations. One is able to complete the works for self, achieving the enlightenment, and able to able to complete works for others to to bring everyone to full enlightenment and freedom from all the suffering and obscurations. So so tonight’s subject, is a clear subject. Yesterday should be the karma.
Clear, clear subject you know, should be on compassion. But I did prepare the subject on karma yesterday. I said, they say, to go on the karma yesterday, and and the plan, you have the mind in the mind. The introduction sometimes then. In order to feel in order to feel compassion to every to every sentient being, then you one need to need to know all those different types of sentient beings, their sufferings.
So I need to know the law of karma. You need to understand, or you need to feel the lower realms’ sufferings. Then then one can generate a compassion to everyone. You know? That way, he may not just only see or not just only sick people or starving, you know, people, not just on that. To every even the wealthy people to have compassion to everyone.
They are suffering. However, then you see, the Buddhist teaching is the method to cross over, however, to develop the state of generating compassion that way. So however this However, total transformation practice is to stop that thought of self-cherishing. You see? Then how to deal with the problems.
Then you see, of Dharma, you see, importance of Dharma practice. Dharma is the only one which helps at the time of death. They are the most crucial. So when the point of death comes, See, that Dharma will be practical. But that we should make it beneficial for that.
Mhmm. Okay? Mhmm. Then you see, bodhicitta, you know, even one even it’s one sentient being, is how one should cherish. You see?
So that’s and that’s condensed and that really contains our compassion. So it happened that way anyway. So I stop here.