Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. Lama Zopa Rinpoche opens with the city of Adelaide as a teaching example of dependent arising—showing how it exists not independently but only in relation to people, names, buildings, and places. He then connects this abstract philosophy to concrete emotional transformation: just as happiness and suffering depend on causes and conditions, so too do anger and attachment. The heart of this 35-minute teaching is a profound reframing of enemies: those who harbor anger toward us become our most precious teachers, offering the irreplaceable opportunity to practice patience. By training the mind to transform anger in this way, the practitioner stops anger toward all beings and progresses toward enlightenment.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 07 WWNN.mp3
UUID: c1205175-465b-4928-85a8-e2347b45b5e8
Teacher: Lama Zopa Rinpoche 1
Collection: y What the World Needs Now 1987 Audios (Lama Zopa Rinpoche 1)
Date: 1987 (exact day not recorded)
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 35.6 minutes
Words: ~1,881
So Adelaide doesn’t exist. Does it exist now? No. Okay. So before the city takes life, even if you have idea to call Adelaide, does Adelaide exist or not?
Yes. Yes. Yes. Mhmm. Yeah.
Mhmm. Yeah. So yeah. The yeah. Before the press, even they even they had the idea, Adelaide, you see, does that Adelaide exist or not?
Yeah. So Mhmm. Before what? Before the desire. Before we get the conception.
Yeah. So before before the place, when the people have mind, they want to call Adelaide, that’s the labeling system. Then when is Adelaide?? What? After after a long time squeezing. It had a long time squeeze and then came out. So now it’s depend so now it’s depend so now it’s dependent dependent or not? Is Adelaide dependent or not? Yes. What it depends on? A guy, a building, their name. Yeah. So depending on men, then what else? The guy, the guy, and then what else? For the athlete, it depends on the guy, you know, name, Then buildings, making buildings.
Right? So this Adelaide so this Adelaide, actually, in reality, it exists in many ways. So depending on these things. By depending on these things. By depending on these things.
These things which these things which which have gone through. Yes. Right? Yes. Is there an Adelaide besides this? Is there an Adelaide, is there an Adelaide besides this, besides this? Is there an Adelaide more than this? Is there any Adelaide more than this? So, anyway, so Adelaide so Adelaide yeah. So dependent on dependent on the people who label, the thought and name and the place and the place, isn’t it?
And depends on see? Right? On these things. Depending on these things, depending on these things, depending on these things. So you see?
So Adelaide depends depends on these things. It depends on these things. So that you understood. At least depend on these things you understood. Right?
Okay. So, Adelaide, Adelaide, that it exists, you know, dependent, depending on stream. Adelaide, you see, so dependent on these things exists. So now do you understand how Adelaide is dependent arising? Good.
Yeah. So happiness suffering, depends So they’re empty, empty existing from a human side. So self the suffering is dependent on the cause conditions. So by stopping the cause conditions, the suffering can be stopped. By the way, it exists by by the end of the control of the cause, independent of condition that it exists.
So that can be stopped by stopping the cause. In that way, there’s no condition to suffer. Condition which causes happen to suffering. Also, happiness depends on cause and cause conditions, And that way, by developing the cause of happiness, developing the cause of happiness, mainly that, it also depends on conditions, but the happiness can be developed. So now, that is the happiness of the dependent arising and empty existing, summarized.
That is because the right attitude, the virtuous attitude, their virtue karma, their wrong attitude, their non-virtue karma, see, their dependent arising. That, you see, which brings result, you see, problem, not in the future, at this life or future, or both. However, possessed by the non virtuous attitude, is on that is labeled non virtuous, that action, which brings the result of suffering, the suffering. So that action is on that action, karma. On the thought has merely labeled on that non-virtuous action. But now that the action, that which you see, which brings result, happiness, mainly the result, not result, happiness, motivated by the accumulated by the virtuous attitude.
On that is the labeled virtuous karma. However, the result of sufferings and the karma which is from where they come, is the three poisons mind. Samsaric suffering, called karma or klesha. They come from the one of the motivation, ignorance, anger, attachment. So even this, even there are dependent arising, In other words, anger and attachment are dependent arisings.
So For example, when somebody dislikes oneself, when somebody bad treats oneself, So there’s an imprint in the mental continuum, imprint of anger left the left of the memory continuum by this is past karma. So the imprint is there on the mental continuum, like a seed, you see. Then the condition, see, the object, it is like oneself, you know, treating oneself badly, doing another undesirable action. Then, on this, you see, one does not practice there.
One does one doesn’t do the practice in controlling I see controlling anger, subduing anger. They are applying the teachings with the meditation, such as the patience. So one one does not practice Then if one one meet the one one meet the condition, the person who has anger dislikes or the person who dislikes so oneself then anger arises. And suddenly, anger arises. You see, on that object.
Thought. Anger arises by depending on the imprint, that which is the mental continuum’s imprint, and also the outside object. The person who dislikes was one side. But the anger arises, so dependent. Like this.
And the thought which has that character, which is in the character, you know, you see, to give harm. To is to harm to harm other. To harm that sentient being. So that unbearable thought which harms the sentient beings, that thought which feels unbearable with that object. So that character, the thought which has that character, on that one has to merely label, merely label on that anger.
So that is anger exist, you see, by depending on thought’s condition, base, and thought, name. So same thing. The attachment, again, you see, the imprint is there, left by the past, the attachment, the imprint of attachment. And then, you see, there’s object, desirable object, physical object, condition. Then as one does not as one does not practice controlling the mind, you know, there’s no practical remedy.
For them. As as one needs to condition, suddenly the attachment arises, takes over the mind, controls oneself. The attachment controls oneself, suddenly. So the attachment, you see, exists depending on the cause and conditions like this. Then the thought, which again, you know, is that kind of tight and difficult, painful to separate, difficult to separate away from the object.
Then on the thought which has that character, then one merely labels on that, attachment. So therefore, the anger depends, see, depends on cause, and it existed dependent on cause and conditions. So therefore, it also can be stopped. It can be stopped, you see, by eliminating cause, and by eliminating cause, and the condition which causes the anger doesn’t happen.
Even the cause is there. Even the cause is there, but if you change the condition, you see, if you change the condition to develop patience, you know, instead instead, you see, instead of creating, instead of making the object as a condition for anger, you make the object to develop patience, then anger does not anger gets stopped. When you change into the condition to develop patience from the condition of anger, you see, which came from one’s mind. So for thinking that, like a doctor, you want, and like a doctor, you know, it is otherwise, you see, and attempt to benefit, you know, to me, then how can I take this with patience? So, you see, by thinking, the Buddha does not have anger towards me, so now I have no opportunity to have patience with Buddha as as as well as the Bodhisattvas who have only the thought of cherishing other sentient beings.
Else except the thought of cherishing the benefit of other sentient beings. So there’s no anger towards me, so I have no opportunity to practice patience with them, to develop mind develop the mind in that way, to I see. In that way, towards the enlightenment, you see, and more opportunity with them. And then friends, something. Friends, while they are friends, they are friends, they don’t have animosity.
Only loving kindness. Only the thought of liking, no definite dislike. No anger, so I have no opportunity to practice patience with this. So standing now, what’s left now, with the friends all these, all those like this are included in the friends and stranger and enemy. category.
So simply means, who are friends, I have no option to practice patience to develop the mind to develop the mind in this way towards the enlightenment. Towards the fearless happiness, the great liberation, enlightenment. With strangers. Strangers, there is also no anger. So I have no opportunity to practice patience with him, to develop the mind in this way, to achieve enlightenment.
For the sake of other sentient beings. So now only so now all. So only the person who me opportunity Who gives me opportunity? You see, to practice patience, to control anger, by training the mind in patience, you know, that is to stop the arising of anger towards every sentient being. Towards the numberless numberless object, you see, the sentient beings.
Need to get, stop, we stop, you see, getting angry, you know, we stop me getting angry towards, you see, numberless sentient beings. So that is this. That is this. That is this. There is one who one who has the anger towards me.
He’s the one. So so unbelievable, kind, so precious. You know? Oh, he’s having anger to he’s having anger towards me, so precious. You know?
Unbelievable, kind. That is giving me opportunity to develop, to train the mind in patience. This way, I stop giving harm towards I stop you see, this way, stop my anger, so stop giving harm towards all the sentient beings. So unbelievable kind, so precious. And, yeah, and leads this person leads me you see?
By leading me to participation, it leads me to enlightenment. Cessation of all the mental cessation of of all the obscuration, you see, mental state, and, you see, having all the realizations. So he he leads me to he leads me to enlightenment. It’s so extremely kind and then arises. Then by achieving enlightenment, that I’m able to able to to reveal, you see, able to reveal the unmistaken path to every sentient being, and able to lead to able to lead to the fearless happiness and enlightenment that I’m able to do.
So also this opportunity is giving is giving to me. You know, he’s giving to me this opportunity. So he’s unbelievably kind. You know, how precious how precious he is to me. So if I don’t so therefore so if I don’t have, if I don’t practice this patience with him, if you oh, with him, one who has anger, there’s no opportunity for me to practice patience at all.
No. No opportunity at all to develop my to be develop, you see, a good heart. So you see, if if if he doesn’t have if this person if he does you see, if he doesn’t have anger, doesn’t have anger, even this even this person doesn’t have anger close to me, I think I have no no opportunity at all, you know, to practice patience. Even this person doesn’t have anger towards me, you know, no opportunity for me to practice patience at all. So by his having anger, then you see him.