Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 17-minute teaching to Buddha House students, Lama Zopa Rinpoche addresses how to work with the constant stream of real-world problems—illness, poverty, family conflict, blame, loss. He offers three psychological transformations: recognize each difficulty as finishing of past negative karma, so your mind stays joyful; relate your losses to the giving-and-receiving prayers you’ve already done countless times, and feel happiness actualizing them; experience suffering on behalf of all others, sparing them that burden. This is the essence of Lojong, mind training—turning any condition into the path to enlightenment. The result is that whatever arises—health or sickness, gain or loss, praise or blame—becomes an object of enlightenment only. Direct and practical for practitioners engaged with Dharma.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 03 Tbhs.mp3
UUID: dde3a2c4-f369-479b-b02a-90c63f1c38df
Teacher: Lama Zopa Rinpoche 1
Collection: y Talk to Buddha House Students (Lama Zopa Rinpoche 1)
Date: 1985 (exact day not recorded)
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 17.0 minutes
Words: ~1,227
You know? So many kinds of problems. You see? You see? And, you know, one after another.
Even that one after another. Okay? Some and sometimes and then one after another unceasing. So when when it happen like this, like example, now, you’re finding yourself unhealthy, sick. And then you see, you have no money, you know, to to to buy medicine or to attend hospital or you know, then no money to eat food or any kind of stuff, no place to stay.
What? Problems in the family families or with friends or see? And even other people don’t like. So let’s just happen. Okay?
So once the problem happens, you know, other people blame you without having you know, without you having done the case, you know, mistake, you know, blame you. Even you even you give help, other people in this time give harm to you. You know? Like this. Okay?
Then you see, you know, I’m a bit, you know, unexpected without without wish at all. You know? You see? Even, you know, is it the employment or you see? You see so many unsettled things happening.
Okay? That and the family. So how about the baby? Oh, you know? Yeah.
You know? You see? I think place your own blessings and to be able to see to be able to see that this is cause of finishing — the result of negative karma. My past negative karma is finishing — by accident. My past negative karma you know, uncomfortable ones to to finish.
Okay? Then next the next one, to be able to transform in the path to in the path the miserable conditions into path to enlightenment. So you see, when you think, you know, all the all these troubles when I’m explaining, you know, means finishing of my many unkind karmas. You see? Try to be happy.
Try to be happy. In this way, this way, think, your mind is happy so you can practice Dharma. If your mind depressed, you can’t do anything. Even even you can’t eat food, you want to sleep, you can’t even recite a mantra. No energy to even reach out to manana.
Okay? No. No. Even you don’t want to talk to others, you want to help, you don’t want to do anything, makes yourself unhappy and others unhappy. Okay?
So like this. And also it means, you know, by experiencing these problems in this life, then having these times that you have to experience in lower realms for many eons doesn’t have to be experienced. You know, by practicing Dharma, you know, And I also think Also, think like this. With this version also you can think become cause of finishing and negative karma. As I said there, you develop it, see that way.
So you think, you relate this one with other cherishing besides your own. So normally when we do Namcho Kagye Puja or we do so many times we pray to, you know, to give ourselves to others and to receive others upon oneself and to give our own happiness, comfort, everything for others. We have many prayers many times. So what when you lose your possessions to others, when we lose our friends to others, you see, other people gain thereby, then that time, we should think. We should feel happiness, you know, resilience.
I prayed so many times like this now. Now I have accomplished my prayer. When when you lost your friend to others, you know, or possessions. Mhmm. So it’s very obvious.
Oh, my prayer. So far, I did so many times. Now I have really achieved it, how fantastic is this. You know? Or when you have problem, you see, I’ve been praying so much so many times to experience suffering for others, you know, things and all these things.
Okay? So now I’ve been praying and practicing so many times. Now, oh, I really achieved. I really received it. Oh, wow.
How fantastic this should feel happiness. And constantly think constantly think. You see, my experience in this, you know, is finishing. You see? You see, I’m experiencing these sufferings, troubles on behalf of others.
I see that I experience on behalf of others. So others so I you see? So, you see, I’m experiencing on behalf of others. So others that way, doesn’t need to experience. So you should practice like this.
I didn’t feel happiness. You know? Feel happiness. Okay? Yeah.
Feel happiness. Joyfulness. So in this way, you see, yeah, you’ve transformed the bad condition into the path to enlightenment. This is the essential psychology, you know, experiencing all the miserable conditions, you know, criticisms, everything. Okay?
All this, you know, in this way, think, an object of enlightenment only beneficial. Otherwise otherwise, know, otherwise, in our life, you know, if we don’t practice Dharma, if we don’t practice patience especially, then you see thing like this. Oh, you see? Most of more you see?
Even the you see? Not not you know? It Everything, you see, everything possible you know, everything get turned out miserable condition. Yeah. Nothing makes you happy.
You know? Nothing is right. Nothing is okay. You know? Family, place, house, food, nothing’s okay.
Wherever you go, nothing’s okay. You know? Nothing you see, nothing nothing nothing nothing satisfies. Nothing fits you. So unheard of unheard of way you go, you know, and unheard of all the time.
So everything turns out bad condition undesirable condition. So by practicing this way, you see by practicing this way, less desirable condition, you you see, see as a more desirable condition, less undesirable as a more desirable condition. So after some time, you know, whatever happens, you know, healthy, unhealthy, you know, you see, the deterioration, increasing, you know, good things happening, you know, criticism, present, whatever whatever happens, living alive living alive, living live live as a being alive or being dying, whatever happens, you know, you see so happy, you know, only blissful condition, no dissatisfaction. So like that. That that’s the that’s the sign of having having well trained in Lojong.
Okay? So in this way, think, one can achieve that relatively quickly. Yeah. Okay? I think that’s all of you understood.
So a little bit. Okay? From my, you know, the problem English. Okay? And how there’s some benefit from this.
For sure, if we’re going to dedicate to the lama, sooner the lama will reincarnate and again, you know, we will be guided. Okay? And we enjoy again lama’s life, Okay? So I would like to say thank you very, very, very much for everybody, but yeah. All the members.
Okay? And anybody who are listening this talk. Thank you very much. Okay. So this teaching, know, this this this teaching is my representative for you.
Okay? Until I come. Representative. Doesn’t doesn’t mean doesn’t mean when I come to stop stop this practice, he doesn’t mean that. K?
Thank you very much for everybody. And I must say I enjoyed very much the last time when I was there in the in the home of the director. Doug. Douglas. Douglas.
That that that was one of my that that was my most pleasant time after all the tours during that year, Australia and New Zealand. That was my most pleasant one. Thank you so much.